


Okay. Okay.

by DRHPaints



Category: Bill Hader - Fandom, Saturday Night Live, Saturday Night Live Sketches, The Lyle Kane Show
Genre: Anxiety, Autism Spectrum, Blow Jobs, Cunnilingus, Daydreaming, Dry Humping, Embarrassment, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Falling In Love, Firefly References, First Kiss, First Time, First Time Blow Jobs, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, Grinding, Hand Jobs, Implied/Referenced Sexual Coercion and Humiliation, Late in Life Virginity Loss, Loss of Virginity, Love, Love Confessions, Masturbation, Phone Sex, Smut, Sweet, Vaginal Fingering, Vaginal Sex, Virginity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-16 02:54:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 24,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29075142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DRHPaints/pseuds/DRHPaints
Summary: After working on 'The Lyle Kane Show' for nearly a year, Jennifer finally gets up the courage to tell Daniel about her long held feelings. Thrilled when he reciprocates, the two stumble through their courtship hand in hand, navigating their inexperience as they grow close.
Relationships: Daniel/Original Female Character
Comments: 4
Kudos: 8





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, so I realize that though I write about some obscure Bill characters, Daniel is *especially* out there. For those who don't know, 'The Lyle Kane Show' sketch it from Season 33 Ep 1, Lebron James hosting. For the sake of this fic, the show takes place on public access, not BET (I'm white, I'm not going near that joke) and I really can't explain why I fell so deeply in love with a character who existed for less than five minutes, except to say that it's not the first time Billiam did this to me, and I'm sure it won't be the last.
> 
> Also, I am not officially diagnosed as being on the Autistic Spectrum and if any of my readers are, I hope they consider this a respectful portrayal. My doctors have said it's likely I am, but insurance won't approve testing because it wouldn't change my treatment plan with my current disability if I was, anyway. I hope nothing contained within this story is offensive. This is simply how I perceived the character and I really felt like it would be nice to see some representation in a fic. Hopefully anyone who reads enjoys.

Delicately lifting the headjoint from the velvet case by the ends as his teacher instructed years before, Daniel swiped the shining surface with his silver cloth before moving onto the body of the flute. Gripping gently, Daniel brought the pieces together with a soft twist until the lip plate lined up with the keys. Sometimes, not often because the risk of damaging his prized instrument frightened Daniel greatly, he would purposefully take apart and reassemble the woodwind when alone, simply for the reward of those beautiful, smooth parts gliding into place beneath his lengthy fingers. Three parts, then one. Again and again. But Daniel never told anyone about this proclivity. No. People would think him strange.

“Hey there, Daniel.” Chipboard to her chest in a vicious clench and eyes on the floor, Jennifer shuffled into the room in her baggy sweatshirt and overlong pleated shirt, oscillating a foot too far from Daniel, cautiously peeking as he prepared for the show. 

“Hey there, Jennifer.” Daniel didn’t meet her gaze as he lightly pressed on the C key before attaching the foot joint to his flute. 

Following the path of his large hands, Jennifer reminded herself not to stare. People told her she stared. A lot. But she admired Daniel’s hands. Big and articulate and elegant. Jennifer found it difficult not to fixate on their movements. “So, Daniel, um…”

“Hi there, Daniel. Hi there, Jennifer.” As Lyle strode into the cramped storage area which passed for their ‘dressing room’ at the public access station, Jennifer told herself to calm, that he couldn’t know he interrupted, and she shouldn’t be upset.

“Hi there, Lyle.” Daniel called over his shoulder without looking back before testing his instrument, a hint of tension forming between his dark brows when he detected a sharpness. 

Nostrils flaring, Jennifer’s shoe squeaked as she unconsciously inched closer to Daniel. “Hi there, Lyle.” 

“Hi there, so…” Lyle reiterated before he began, palms aloft as he looked to a space equidistant between Daniel and Jennifer, but never quite at either one. “I think tonight will go well. Our guest sent me a text and says he is on the way.”

Daniel and Jennifer nodded in unison. “Sounds good.” Jennifer peeped. Though she enjoyed her job as producer for ‘The Lyle Kane Show,’ sometimes those selected by Lyle as talent could be intimidating, and she hoped that wasn’t the case with whoever attended tonight’s taping. 

“Now…” Continuing in his measured speech, Lyle leaned his weight forward significantly. “Is there anything I should know before I go to practice my vocal exercises?” 

Shaking his head, Daniel knew Lyle liked to go through his flubbing and ‘unique New York’s’ in the men’s room because of the ideal acoustics and reminded himself to avoid the area for the next half hour or so. 

“Nope.” Jennifer gnawed on her lip, green eyes sneaking over to see Daniel apparently pleased with the tone emitting from his flute when he touched his pink lips down to the embouchure hole for the second time. “All good.”

“Okay there. I’ll meet you in the studio then.” With a small wave they both half returned, Lyle spun on his heel, and once certain he could no longer hear their conversation, Jennifer took a deep breath.

Jennifer spent a week preparing the words. Well, that wasn’t precisely true. She thought about what to say to Daniel for the better part of a year, ever since the second week after she joined their little crew at channel three. 

The station threw an ice cream social. Outside. In August. Lining up with the others, Jennifer resented her inclination to wear sweatshirts year around as the queue advanced at a snail's pace. Crimson hair plastered to her forehead and wondering if heat didn’t allow enough oxygen molecules into the air, Jennifer told herself it would be worth it. The sweat, the people, the noise. If only she could make it to the end and get her free ice cream, find a cool, secluded spot under a tree, maybe, and relax.

Finally, sundae in hand and tiny smile on her face, Jennifer zeroed in on the perfect location, scurrying toward an unattended maple, when a child belonging to someone or another rushed past. Knocking into Jennifer from behind, a splatter of delectable dairy decorated the ground, a tragedy of untasted fudge and strawberries, and Jennifer stared down in defeat.

She couldn’t yell at the kid, though the flare of rage told Jennifer to, at first. Jennifer knew you can’t scream at children. Unless they were your own, maybe. And he apologized, anyway. But her eyes stung. And her throat started to close. Jennifer aware of how silly she might be for tearing up over a spilt treat, telling herself she was thirty years old, she shouldn’t be about to cry over this, but so angry for not being more careful, at the prospect of getting back in the interminable line should she want another, that she didn’t know what else to do.

“Hey, um…” Jennifer turned to see Daniel, fingers an inch from her shoulder. He wanted her attention, but didn’t want to touch Jennifer and scare or upset her even more. “I’m sorry.” Looking down at the mess, Daniel’s tall form stood beside Jennifer, silent and still for a moment before he extended his own sundae. “You can have mine. I only had one bite.” Perhaps Daniel misinterpreted how deeply this gesture moved Jennifer, because his long arm retracted a hair before his halted speech sped up. “I’m not sick, or anything. I just thought...so you don’t have to get another one. You don’t have to though if you don’t want to. It’s okay.”

“No, I…” Swallowing, Jennifer lifted tentative fingers toward the dessert and froze in midair. “I do...but are you sure? That’s yours.”

A pause. A nod. “Yeah. I want you to have it.” Daniel nudged the tray into Jennifer’s hands, pulling his own away rapidly to avoid their skin brushing. “No problem.”

Jennifer held the spoon. “Thank you.” Sometimes she forgot to thank people when they did kind things. This oversight kept her awake at night. Jennifer was grateful she remembered this time. 

“You’re welcome.” Hands patting his baggy light wash jeans, Daniel glanced up long enough to see Jennifer smiling. Warmth spread in his firm chest and he knew he made the right choice, even though he, too, eagerly awaited the free ice cream. 

Daniel’s extended legs started to carry him off when an idea occurred to Jennifer. “Hey. Wait.” Head down when he twisted back at the waist, Jennifer hoped he would think her suggestion wise, even though they only exchanged a handful of words at that point during their first few tapings. “Maybe...we could share?”

Cobalt eyes darting from the ice cream, to Jennifer, to the tables laden with ingredients and flanked by volunteers, Daniel swallowed. “Oh...do you think they’ll let me go to the front? If I just want another spoon? I can go ask…” Daniel truly didn’t want to face this daunting task.  _ What if I go all the way over there and they say no? What if they think I was too stupid to hold onto the spoon they gave me? What if-- _

“Oh, maybe, um…” Biting the inside of her cheek as she winced at the laughing, loud people in the distance, Jennifer desired to make the process as smooth as possible, what with Daniel’s generosity and everything. “Maybe...maybe it’s okay if we use this one? I’m not sick, either…”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.”

“Okay then.”

“Okay.”

After a minute of Jennifer suggesting her preferred location beneath the maple tree, Daniel agreeing, and her verifying his acquiescence to be genuine, they hunkered down beneath the leaves.

An exchange lasting a full two minutes occurred before Daniel could convince Jennifer to take the first bite, vanilla melting the entire time. But they eventually sank into a comfortable back and forth, spoon passing from hand to hand, knees almost kissing, but not quite, as they faced one another in the dirt.

Though if anyone asked Jennifer in advance how she would feel sharing ice cream, not to mention her special area, with another person after yearning for solitude, she would’ve resolutely declared that no, she wanted to be alone, and she didn’t like the idea one bit.

But Daniel sat across from her quietly. He didn’t ask intrusive questions, or feel the need to fill the silence with mindless drivel. They just ate. Enjoyed. Rested.

And as the contents of the dish lowered, Daniel’s big hand patted his side. “You have the rest.”

“Are you sure?” Jennifer eyed him warily, a hint of guilt twisting her plump lips. “I don’t wanna--”

“I’m sure.” Drawing up his knees, Daniel perched his wide back against the trunk of the tree, a grin winking over his wide mouth before his face returned to his usual flat tightness. “I want you to have it.”

Ever since, Jennifer’s fascination with Daniel blossomed, not into a singular, pretty flower, but a gorgeous, sprawling garden within her heart she tended with regularity and persistence. Jennifer mentally noted everything she could about Daniel. His interests, Jennifer’s excitement boundless when she discovered how they overlapped and interwove with her own. The two shared long, rambling chats about their favorite show, ‘Firefly,’ which only existed for one season, and yet both Daniel and Jennifer contained a bounty of thoughts, feelings, and theories about those meager moments which they were never able to expel to anyone else.

Jennifer studied how Daniel moved, how he spoke. Bringing him to life in her daydreams, which often led to blushy cheeks and stuttered words around him the next morning. Eventually, Jennifer recognized the name for her feelings about Daniel, though she couldn’t say the word aloud. Not to him, not to her couple of online friends with whom she discussed Daniel. Not even in the Captain Mal Reynolds journal tucked beneath her mattress (even though Jennifer lived alone, and therefore had no reason to hide such a possession) still, the word proved too big, too scary. 

But sometimes, at night, quiet and unmoving, Jennifer would whisper it in her mind, goosebumps breaking out over her pale skin. And after watching the moonlight cross her floor one too many times, Jennifer decided, today was the day she would tell Daniel the truth.

She almost confessed to Daniel once. Well, in truth Jennifer got close many times, words burbling behind her teeth, almost unrestrainable with the intensity of her emotions. But a single instance stood out in particular.

Christmas. Jennifer bought the card. Wrote, ‘Merry Christmas, Daniel. I like you. From, Jennifer.’ Stared at her scrawl. Erased. Scribbled again. Erased again. Penned a slightly different message.

When Jennifer swept her feelings away from the cardstock for the third time, she realized the shadow remained, and Daniel would know whether she wanted him to or not. Irritated with herself, she tore the card into teeny, tiny pieces, tossing them among three different trash cans in her caution as she skittered to the drug store to buy a replacement.

Leaving the fresh card blank with the exception of her name, maybe a man other than Daniel would’ve picked up on Jennifer’s intentions purely based on her gift. For Jennifer purchased Daniel a new polishing cloth for his flute (his appeared rather ragged), printed out the sheet music from ‘Firefly’ (Jennifer ended up doing this twice, because initially she punched holes into the pages and bound them with lovely silver ribbon, then thought herself stupid when she realized Daniel needed them loose to flip through if he were to play, tucking them into a yellow folder instead. Daniel seemed to like yellow), a gift card for his favorite music shop, and a puzzle from the local comic book store bearing the characters from ‘Firefly.’ 

With the last piece, Jennifer hoped Daniel might want them to assemble it together. They both liked ‘Firefly.’ They both liked games and puzzles. Though ages passed before Daniel and Lyle included Jennifer in the latter, unfortunately. Jennifer thought this neglect due to her sex. And in a sense, she was correct. But Daniel and Lyle didn’t think less of her, or desire not to include her in the fun. Rather, when Jennifer became their producer, the two of them possessed almost no experience with women which wasn’t negative, and months dragged before they understood that she, too, enjoyed the same things they did and wouldn’t mock their interests.

And so after they wrapped, occasionally the three would amuse themselves with Pandemic. Or Ticket to Ride. Or Settlers of Catan, often losing track of the hour and rising with cracking joints when the security guard ushered them from the studio. 

But Jennifer wanted to play with Daniel alone. Even thought of asking him to come over for a two person game, like Forbidden Island, maybe. Though her fear that Daniel would see through her ruse proved too great.

Alas, it’s unlikely Daniel would’ve thought Jennifer desired anything more than a jovial evening of casual play, and so she unintentionally denied herself, as he didn’t glean the significance when he unwrapped present after present from the riotous gift bag Jennifer thrust before him that Christmas afternoon. 

“Oh…” Large hands cradling the puzzle, Daniel swallowed. “You got me so much.” Daniel appreciated all of the items. Loved them, in fact. But all he purchased for Jennifer was a new clipboard. Sparkly and purple. She wore an excessive amount of purple, so he assumed she might like the new supply. But the discrepancy in their gifts dampened his enthusiasm with guilt. “Thank you…”

Though with other people Jennifer may not have sensed the note which bent the melody of Daniel’s flinty voice into the minor key, with her ear trained to his whims, her heart shattered. “You don’t like it…”

Fists at her sides. Teeth tight. Rapid blinks.  _ Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Don’t cry. _

“I do.” Daniel saw her distress. Needed to fix his error. Fast. “I…”  _ Don't use the big word _ . “I like it so much. Thank you. I just…” Sapphire gaze falling to the clipboard on the couch with the hasty bow tied around, the cords of Daniel’s pallid neck worked in shame. “I should’ve gotten you something better.”

“Oh no.” Jennifer squeezed the clipboard to her chest adoringly and sniffed. “I…”  _ Don’t say the big word _ . “It’s perfect. Exactly what I wanted. You…” Nodding, a smile whipped over her curvaceous lips before she folded them under. “You did a good job, Daniel.”

Residual discomfort contributing to his hunched posture, Daniel curled over the puzzle box with a little bob of his head. “Thank you. You did, too.” Chewing on his pink lip, Daniel risked a peek at Jennifer’s emerald eyes before studying the item in his hands again. “You’re really nice.”

“You are, too.” Jennifer told herself to say the words.  _ Just do it. Just get it over with. If he doesn’t like me back, at least I know. At least it’ll be over with and I won’t have to-- _

“Hey there.” But, as per usual, Lyle barged in unannounced and they proceeded with their gift exchange. And as the calendar turned from Spring to Summer, the moment didn’t seem right to Jennifer. Until now.

She didn’t know why she couldn’t tolerate the feelings for another day, but whatever the reason, as she clutched the clipboard he gave with a ferocity that dug into the soft pads of her fingertips, she leaned to Daniel and opened her mouth.

But his slightly nasal voice squeaked out first. “Do you know who is on the show today?” Daniel rifled through the yellow folder of his sheet music, a little dog-eared now, making sure every page was in order.

“Oh, um…” Thrown off her rhythm, Jennifer shook her head. “No, I don’t. Do you?”

“No.” A short sigh. A blink. “I hope they’re nice. Sometimes…” Daniel stared at the wall as he searched for the words. “Lyle doesn’t bring very nice people.”

Jennifer nodded, countenance dark. “No...he doesn’t. But…” Hitching up a shoulder, Jennifer chewed on her tongue. “I don’t think he means to. I think they seem nice until they get here.”

“Yeah.” Daniel held his flute, hoping. “I think you’re right. You’re so smart, Jennifer. And when they get mean…” Tucking the folder under his arm, Daniel closed his case and flipped the snaps. “You do a really good job.”

“Hey Daniel, can I talk to you about something?” Bursting from her in one, frenzied breath, Jennifer’s face flooded with heat and the sounds of the room faded as Daniel nodded and looked to a spot maybe a few inches above her left shoulder.

“Sure there, Jennifer.”

Jennifer cast her eyes to the open doorway, then back to Daniel. “It’s...kind of...private.”

“Oh.” Following her gaze, Daniel swallowed. “Should I close the door?”

“Yes, please.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

Returning to her, Daniel tilted his head curiously. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I, um...I just…” Every muscle tensed and Jennifer didn’t think she inhabited her body as she scrunched her face and forgot to breathe. “I like you.”

“I like you, too, Jennifer.” Daniel responded simply, unsure why Jennifer appeared scared.

Viridescent gaze widening in shock, when Jennifer understood that Daniel didn’t ascertain her intent, a bilious anxiety gurgled in her esophagus. “No, I mean…” Face violently pink, Jennifer shrunk away from his tall form, voice hardly a whisper. “I  _ like _ like you…”

“Oh!” Voice cracking in surprise, usually he didn’t vary far out of a restricted range of calm tones, but this revelation unbalanced Daniel. “You mean…like…” Daniel pointed to himself, then his hand slowly twisted toward Jennifer. “Like boyfriend/girlfriend?  _ Like _ like?”

Jennifer nodded quickly, wishing she didn’t tell Daniel to close the door, wishing she could run. 

“Oh…” Lowering his arms, Daniel fell silent, processing. Daniel liked Jennifer. As a friend. But he never thought about her any other way, merely because his mind wouldn’t let such a notion exist. Girls didn’t like Daniel. He discovered that hurtful truth long ago. And so, Daniel didn’t let himself like girls, either. Not real ones, anyway. Why bother when it inevitably ended up in rejection and pain? 

But, in his quiet pondering, which he couldn’t know sent Jennifer into a full blown panic attack as she stood feet away holding back tears, Daniel evaluated his friendship with Jennifer. Jennifer was kind. Smart. Pretty. Never once did she make him feel stupid. Or ridiculous for his interests. In fact, they had a lot in common…

“Okay…” Daniel finally responded, sounding far away as he nodded, mostly to himself. “I…like you, too.”

“You...do?” Scanning his face, Jennifer inhaled, waiting for the joke, the cruel taunt which accompanied these sorts of interactions in her past, but none came as Daniel bobbed his head.

“Yeah.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“You’re sure?”

“I am.”

Jennifer raised her clipboard in front of her face to hide her smile. Daniel giggled. High, unusual, left eye squinting and overbite exaggerated before he smacked a wide palm over his snorting laughter. 

“Okay there, um…” Sharp cheekbones pink, Daniel’s fingertips rattled over his denim-clad thighs as he looked at Jennifer with an uneven grin. “Are...are you my girlfriend, then?”

Nodding exuberantly, Jennifer bounced on the balls on her feet a bit. “Yeah. I mean...if you...if you wanna be boyfriend/girlfriend.”

“I do.” Glee eking out through his pink lips once more, Daniel took half a step closer to Jennifer, but became nervous when his pinky brushed her sweater. “Yeah. Yeah, I do.”

“Me too. Yeah. Good.” Twisting on the spot in her extreme elation, Jennifer dropped the clipboard to her waist to expose her beaming visage. “Do you, um…” Green eyes glancing cautiously at the door again, she bit her lip. “You wanna kiss? Maybe?”

A tremble went through Daniel from his slicked down brunette hair to the toes of his brown shoes. “Yeah.” Dark blue eyes ping ponging around the room, Daniel swallowed hard. “Yeah, Okay. Sure there. Yes.”

One would think it impossible for the two of them to turn deeper shades of red, but Daniel and Jennifer did indeed as they brought their faces close and hesitated. “Okay, um…” Blood whooshing in her ears, Jennifer prepared by rising to her toes. “On three?”

“Okay.” Daniel licked his lips, tasted his own mouth, hoped his breath was okay.

“Okay. One, two, three…” 

A peck. So fast it’s a wonder they even registered the act, but both were overcome. With euphoria. Worry. Wonder. And several things neither could describe. Maybe no one could as they fidgeted next to each other, tittering.

“That was nice.” Daniel eventually proclaimed, the swelling in his broad chest demanding some kind of release which took the form of that awed, direct sentence.

“Yeah.” Squeezing her clipboard and examining his chiseled, happy face, Jennifer considered. “It was…”

Lips touched the corner of Daniel’s sharp jaw and he yelped. In his defense, no one ever kissed him without asking who wasn’t a blood relative.  _ Well, except that one time… _

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Behind the shield of her clipboard, Jennifer’s eyes glittered, though the threatening tears were at least 70% because her body didn’t know what else to do with the excitement. “I...I should have asked first. I’m sorry.”

“That’s okay.” Daniel nodded. His head ducked toward Jennifer, body jerking halfway as if someone forgot to oil his joints before he urged a kiss to her forehead. 

Jennifer chuckled in delighted relief. Kissed his cheek. He kissed hers back. Peck. Peck. Peck.

“Okay, um…” Heady with glee and voice wavering, Jennifer looked at the clock. “We...we should...the show…”

Picking up his flute in sweaty palms, Daniel nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, we should go out there.”

Jennifer followed Daniel to the door, which, as always, he opened and held for her to walk through before proceeding. Once in the hall, Jennifer turned with voice low. “Would...would you want to come over? To my apartment? We could…” Eyes on the floor tiles, Jennifer shrugged, tried to maintain a casual tone. “We could watch ‘Firefly’ if you want.”

“Yeah.” Daniel never went to a girl’s place alone before. It sounded scary. But too enticing to resist. “Okay. After we’re done here?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”


	2. 2

Taping went poorly that evening, and Lyle couldn’t understand why. Jennifer forgot to signal him three different times. Something she did religiously. Daniel played all the wrong notes and became flustered when Lyle inquired about the problem. But, they stumbled through, and eventually another episode of ‘The Lyle Kane Show’ sat ready for the televisions of whoever might be awake at 4:40 in the morning before Daniel and Jennifer apprehensively sidled up to one another to walk the four blocks to her apartment.

Few words were exchanged on the journey. A myriad of worries crowded Daniel’s mind as they approached Jennifer’s building.  _ Should I hold her hand? What will happen when we get to her place? I should have worn a nicer shirt. But how could I have known Jennifer would be my girlfriend when I got dressed this morning? _

Daniel supposed the yellow button up with the stripes was okay. Jennifer never made fun of the way he dressed. Daniel added this to the reasons why he liked her as they rounded the corner.

Jennifer unlocked the door, her own concerns immeasurable. It wasn’t often she had guests. Apart from her parents. And when they came over, Jennifer dedicated two whole days to dismantling her various displays of fan art and memorabilia to avoid their criticism about how she spent her money, making her apartment appear more ‘adult.’

But, as she crossed the threshold with Daniel, Jennifer supposed this would be the true test. Daniel’s eyes expanded from lakes into oceans as he took in the cacophony of decor. “Whoa…” Flute hanging loosely at his side, he stepped first to the Harry Potter shrine at the right of the entrance and bent down. “Cool.”

Big hand reaching for a snowglobe, Daniel stopped and looked to Jennifer for confirmation. “Is it okay if I touch it?”

“Yeah, just…” Jennifer tucked a strand of scarlet behind her ear in mild discomfort before placing her bag on the counter. “Be careful, please. The top is loose.”

“I will.” Daniel nodded significantly. Retrieving the item, which bore only a partial amount of liquid, though somehow didn’t leak. Ever since finding the treasure at Goodwill for five dollars, Jennifer never was able to get the supposed tune encased within to play. Daniel treated the Snape and Harry snowglobe as though he were handling a precious Ming vase, tenderly turning the base in his skilled fingers before replacing the item precisely, knowing how irritated he became when others misaligned his own possessions. “Awesome. Oh, I’m sorry…” Doubling back to the entrance, Daniel untied his shoes and set them by the door.

“No problem. Are you hungry?” Jennifer moved toward the refrigerator, but Daniel shook his head.

“Nope.”

“Thirsty?”

“A little.”

“Want some water?”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

With glass in hand, Daniel marveled at the sheer volume of Jennifer’s collection. A special area for ‘Sherlock.’ For ‘Game of Thrones.’ For ‘Star Trek.’ But by far the largest, and adorned with the most merchandise, was her ‘Firefly’ display, a bevy of jewels Daniel couldn’t wait to examine in detail. “Wow. You have so much cool stuff.”

“Thank you.” Jennifer sipped for wont of something to do with her hands as Daniel’s prominent brows knit over the action figures. 

“Oh, I have this one.” Daniel pointed at the small toy bearing the likeness of Kaylee with a nod. “Cool. It must have taken you a long time to collect all this stuff.”

“Yeah. Years.” Finishing her water in her anxiety, Jennifer twiddled the empty glass. “So...should...do you want to watch now?”

Straightening up, Daniel bobbed his head. “Okay.” 

Perched on the couch while Jennifer fired up the DVD player, Daniel took the opportunity to look at Jennifer. Then wondered if perhaps he should curb this instinct, if eyeing her might be wrong. Then thought maybe it was okay if she was his girlfriend. Then questioned if even then, Jennifer would want him studying her body.  _ She’s so curvy. And she looks soft. And-- _

Daniel decided to stare at his knees instead. When Jennifer joined him on the couch, he was acutely aware of the distance between their legs. So was she. Jennifer worried maybe she should’ve sat further away. Or closer. She didn’t know.

The first episode started and both hummed the theme song without thinking, neither noticing the other did the same. A few minutes in and Jennifer couldn’t concentrate. “Do you, um…” Rubbing the top of her foot with the opposite one, Jennifer took a deep breath. “Do you wanna hold hands?”

“If you want to...” Daniel leaned back a little, arm twitching. 

“I do.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

Large palm swallowing her own, Jennifer smiled. She admired Daniel’s hands. Deeply. Their size. The way they moved. Sometimes she would watch him play the flute, big fingers tickling over the keys as his face screwed up in concentration, and Jennifer would be...enchanted.

So to finally touch this artfully formed piece of Daniel’s being, so dexterous and delicate, yet strong, left Jennifer tingling on the cushion beside him as their favorite program played. 

“Is it okay if we talk?” Daniel didn’t want to be rude and interrupt the show. But there were so many questions swirling in his mind which made sitting and holding Jennifer’s hand in silence intolerable.

“Sure. I don’t mind.” Smiling, Jennifer ticked her chin to the screen. “We both know what’s going to happen, right?”

“Right.” Corner of his mouth twitching up, Daniel nodded. “So, um…” Fingers inadvertently squeezing Jennifer’s hand, his other rubbed over the surface of his thick thigh in trepidation. “Have you had a boyfriend before?” Though nervous to ask considering his own inexperience at the age of thirty, Daniel figured they should be honest with one another.

“No.” Jennifer shook her head, then stopped at an awkward angle. “Well...not really. There. Once. Someone…” Breath catching, Jennifer let her head fall. “It’s not a nice story.”

Daniel blinked. Looked to the TV. Their joined hands. To Jennifer. “You don’t have to tell me.” Adding what he thought might be comforting pressure, Daniel nodded. “But you can if you want. But only if you want to.”

“Okay, um…” With the background of their beloved space cowboys, Jennifer launched into a tale she never spoke aloud, her body folding and collapsing with every added detail. “So...so back in college, I, um...I met this guy, and he...he said…” Jennifer paused, fist bunching in the fabric of her skirt. “He said he would be my boyfriend if I took off my shirt and...and showed him.” Words drained from her rapidly, as if lancing the horror, the hurt from within, and Jennifer forgot to inhale before she continued. “And I did. And he touched me. And then...and then he wouldn’t be my boyfriend after. He just...he just stopped talking to me.”

A silence stretched. Most might think such a prolonged time without speaking to be uncomfortable, tense; particularly after such a declaration. But if one lives a life composed of quiet, these things aren’t nearly as awkward as they are for those who spend their days surrounded by laughter and chatter. Jennifer knew Daniel probably needed a minute. Frankly, so did she, and the familiar dialogue of their onscreen friends soothed.

“I’m sorry.” Daniel stated eventually, clutching Jennifer’s fingers. “He shouldn’t have done that. That was wrong. And mean.”

“Yeah.” Jennifer didn’t want to cry. Not now. Not about that. Not when she was so happy to be with Daniel watching ‘Firefly’ and holding hands like she always dreamed. So she told herself ‘no’ and blinked. “He was. Thank you. Have...have you had girlfriends?”

Shaking his head, Daniel hunched over. “No. You’re...you’re my first.” Jennifer smiled. Daniel mirrored her, if for but a second. “Have, um…” Glancing at Zoe and Mal fighting on screen, Daniel swallowed. “Have you kissed before? Before today, I mean?”

Jennifer shrugged. “Not really. Just like ‘spin the bottle’ and ‘truth or dare.’ A long time ago. You?”

“Yeah, those. And…” The word froze an inch out of Daniel’s pink lips as his eyes disappeared to decades past. “Once. In high school. I was at my locker.” Daniel spoke in a flat, measured tone. As if he still couldn’t believe the incident happened as he recounted the memory to Jennifer. “We had a quiz in Geometry. I was nervous so I was checking to make sure I had all my notes. Then this girl, Stacy Henry, came up behind me. I never talked to her before. She was...popular.” Shaking his head as if the concept were too unwieldy to consider, Daniel didn’t blink as he continued. “She touched my face. And then she...she kissed me.” Daniel deflated, square chin hanging as his voice sank. “She didn’t...she didn’t ask. I couldn’t...There was nowhere to go. But when it stopped, all her friends behind her laughed.” Pasty face heating, Daniel swallowed hard. “It was a bet. She did it as a joke.”

“Oh...Daniel, I’m sorry.” Jennifer stroked her thumb over his, a rage boiling within her at this Stacy Henry that, should Jennifer ever meet this hateful wench, she would rip her to shreds. But she tried to curtail her anger and focus on Daniel instead. “She was mean, too. You didn’t deserve that. Your first kiss should’ve been...nice.”

Head lifting a little, Daniel blinked across from Jennifer in silence for a couple of minutes. “Kissing you was nice…”

“It was.” Jennifer edged a hair closer. “Kissing you. I mean. Was Nice. Too.”

Daniel’s deep blue eyes locked into Jennifer’s green ones for half a second, creating a sea of uncertainty between them as he folded his pink lips under. “Would you...would you want to do it again?”

“Kiss?” Jennifer confirmed, near enough to smell Daniel’s soap now. She liked the scent. Clean. Comforting.

“If you want to…”

“I do.”

“Are you sure?”

“If you want to.”

“I do.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

Mouths meeting, they parted rapidly, eyes ricocheting and faces warm. “Wanna try again?” Jennifer suggested.

“Yeah. Okay.” This time when Daniel leaned in, they held on perhaps a second or two longer, leaving matching smiles on each other's lips.

“Maybe, um…” Daniel forced himself to meet Jennifer’s emerald eyes for as long as he could. When he really focused, he could handle the challenge if necessary, and he wanted to for this. “Maybe we could say we were each other’s first kiss. Do you think that’s okay?”

Nodding, Jennifer grinned. “Yeah. Yeah, I like that.” Jennifer realized she might be crushing Daniel’s lovely hand in her jubilation and relaxed her grip. “Do you, um…” Television forgotten, she held her breath. “Do you wanna try with tongues? Maybe?”

“If you want to.”

“I do. Do you?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

They knew their mouths needed to be connected for longer than any of their previous experiments. But beyond that, Daniel and Jennifer were in uncharted territory as their lips parted and they sent the explorers of their tongues forward. Jennifer’s a tad overzealous in her traversal, Daniel’s a bit timid. Both shaking. With fear. With exhilaration. 

They weren’t sure which emotion won out as they broke, breath shallow and each wiping a wrist over their mouths before a look containing more than either could ever say to the other passed between their saucer-like eyes. “Okay.” Daniel’s voice emerged even higher than normal as he exhaled through flared nostrils.

“Okay.” Jennifer noticed her bare knee touched his, covered in the baggy faded denim. “Do...do you wanna keep going?”

“Yeah.”

“Good.” Rushing into one another without their usual verbal confirmation, Daniel and Jennifer’s tongues slowly learned the steps of the dance, though Daniel never truly took the lead as their heads tilted to deepen the kiss. Jennifer wanted to hold his crisp jaw, bury her fingers in his brown hair, but after what Daniel told her about his awful experience with Stacy, she didn’t want to frighten, to hurt. So she satisfied herself with a hand on his broad shoulder.

Daniel thought touching Jennifer’s waist might be nice. She looked so soft. Warm. But after her story, Daniel didn’t want to do anything wrong. Wanted to ask first. So he covered the hand held with his other one. Jennifer already said that was okay, after all.

A hum of contentment left Jennifer as they licked into each other’s mouths. Both kept their heads angled to the right. Neither wanted to switch positions when things seemed to be working well thus far. Neither minded when the other became a bit overzealous with tongue, or when lip placement and adjustments were necessary. Neither noticed the second episode of ‘Firefly’ started to play. 

When they eventually parted, pupils blown and chests heaving, Jennifer’s fingers trickled down Daniel’s pale arm and he shivered. “That...that was nice.” Jennifer swallowed.

“Yeah.” Daniel cupped her delicate hand between his own. “Really nice.” 

“Should...should we keep going?” Jennifer wiped her moist palm over the pleats of her skirt, looking up at Daniel through her eyelashes and then to the TV, as though maybe one of the characters held an authority on the subject they didn’t.

Daniel nodded. “Yeah. If you want to.”

“Do you, um…” Jennifer glanced over her shoulder at the cushion. “We...we could lay down. Maybe. If you want to.”

“Like…” Voice deep and low, as though sharing the juiciest of secrets at a sleepover, Daniel’s cobalt eyes darted from Jennifer, to the couch, to the TV. “Like...me on top of you?”

Squirming a little, Jennifer shrugged. “Only...only if you want to. We don’t have to or anything. I just...if you want to.”

Daniel wanted to. Badly. With a resounding, visceral type of want screaming out from the marrow of his bones which ached to weigh Jennifer down with his broad body. But Daniel possessed none of these words. So he merely nodded. “Okay. Yeah...if you want to.”

“I do.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, are you?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

Jennifer rested back, her feet still on the floor as she folded her ‘Game of Thrones’ Lannister House shield throw pillow behind her head and tugged her skirt down her thighs. “Okay…” 

“Okay, um…” Planting his palms on either side of her waist as he bent forward and lifted himself, Daniel blinked down as Jennifer’s leg slithered up and an opening presented itself between her thighs. “So...so just...like this?” 

Daniel held himself aloft, a plank of nerves above before Jennifer nodded. “Yeah. That’s...yeah.” 

Lowering himself gingerly, Daniel’s narrow hips notched between Jennifer’s legs and he cleared his throat, unable to look down at her face quite yet. “Is this okay?”

“Yeah.” Jennifer draped her arms over his vast shoulders. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” Unsure what to do with his hands, Daniel balanced his forearms on the cushions beside Jennifer. “I’m not too heavy?”

Shaking her head, Jennifer spread a bit more beneath Daniel to get comfortable. “No. You...you feel nice.”

“Okay.” Bending his knees so his toes wouldn’t cram against the opposite arm of the couch, Daniel licked his supple lips before examining Jennifer’s face.  _ She’s so pretty _ . “Can I kiss you now?”

“Yeah.” Mouths fusing, as their tongues intertwined, Jennifer played with the dark tendrils at the base of Daniel’s neck as she yearned to do for ages, adoring the way they curled over his high, tight collars. 

A purr of arousal left Jennifer. Daniel was right.  _ She is warm. And soft. And she smells delicious. Like grapefruit and sweetpea. But mostly, so warm. Between her legs. Hot. Good. _

Tearing from her without warning, Daniel gasped as he scrambled away to the other side of the couch. Daniel grabbed the nearest item he could to cover himself, which turned out to be a cutesy pillow in the shape of Severus Snape, ashamed as he hid his springing erection, but unsure what else to do. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry…” Sharp jaw cementing with guilt, Daniel turned his knees toward the wall. “I didn't mean to...I…” Face pink and voice high, Daniel shut his eyes. “I can just go home. I’m sorry.”

Jennifer sat up, catching on before she touched Daniel’s broad shoulder and he flinched. “That’s...you don’t have to be sorry, Daniel.” Skirt exposing her pillowy thighs, Jennifer lowered the fabric, thinking this might alleviate his distress. “I...I don’t mind...that. We…” Retracting her arm, Jennifer rubbed her elbow with the opposite hand. “We don’t have to stop. I mean, we can. I don’t...I don’t want you to do anything you don’t want to do. But...that’s okay. We can keep going. If you want to.”

“Are you sure?” Daniel peeked down at his lap, pulling the pillow away slightly. “I...I don’t want to...make you uncomfortable...or anything.”

Jennifer shook her head. “I’m not uncomfortable. I’m okay. Are you okay?”

Uncoiling, Daniel inhaled. Nodded. “Yeah. I’m okay. I…” Sky of his eyes landing on Jennifer’s voluptuous body, Daniel swallowed significantly. “I wanna keep going. But only if you do.”

“I do.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“You’re sure?”

“I am.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

Getting back into position, when Jennifer first sensed Daniel’s burgeoning erection against her inner thigh, her lungs refused their occupation, fingers clamping around his biceps in anticipation. “Okay, um…” Daniel nodded, face coming close. “I can kiss you now?”

“Yeah.” Lips locking, Jennifer angled herself to the left, seeking, curious, until Daniel’s clothed cock brushed up against her panties.

Daniel’s hips tilted. A smidge. Before he left Jennifer’s mouth and studied her face. “Is this okay?”

“Yeah.” Jennifer’s pelvis rose, rubbing them together in earnest for the first time. Eye contact broken as they swirled in the euphoria of the sensation, a rumbling groan stopped halfway through Daniel’s solid chest before he opened up to see Jennifer’s lust-laden expression. 

“Okay…” Seeking the solace of her mouth once again, Daniel’s hips moved. Then moved a little more. Then he thrust. Jennifer drove herself skyward, moan buzzing between their lips as her panties soaked.

“Daniel, you…” Jennifer pulled away, breath shallow as she combed through his brunette tresses. “You can touch me. If you want to…”

Daniel looked down at the carnival ride of Jennifer’s body, blinking and overwhelmed. “Where?”

Unable to stop herself grinding against his thick cock, Jennifer nodded feverishly. “Anywhere.”

“I don’t…” Fingers timidly gracing her waist, Daniel’s nostrils flared. “I don’t want to do anything bad to you…”

“You’re not.” Jennifer shook her head. “It’s okay. I want you to. If, um…” Peering down at her chest, Jennifer raised a shoulder. “If you want to touch them. You can.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re sure?”

“I am.”

“I’m...I’m just gonna go on top of your shirt.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

Sizable hand molding around her ample breast over the sweatshirt, a throb of want coursed into Daniel’s erection and he bore into the heat between Jennifer’s legs. “This is okay?”

“Yeah.” Bobbing her head, Jennifer smeared her fabric covered clit urgently against Daniel, anxious for friction. “It’s okay. Daniel...kiss me.”

Glad to acquiesce, Daniel laced their tongues with fervor, uncertain how hard he could squeeze Jennifer’s breast and fearful of causing pain, so unable to divine their true nature as his fingers gently caressed through the layers of fabric.

Bodies whorling into a hurricane of rustling rapture, Jennifer’s eyes squinched as she rutted, breaking from Daniel’s supple lips with a tremulous sigh. “Daniel... _ Daniel!  _ That feels really good.  _ Keep going!” _

“It’s okay?” Panting and humping wildly, Daniel’s other arm crept up to cup Jennifer’s head, fingers lost in the mass of her auburn hair. “You’re sure?”

“ _ Yes!” _ Tone strangled with desire, Jennifer’s knee’s squeezed Daniel’s jostling body as she huffed herself into a tensing quake. “ _ Yes! Don’t stop, Daniel! Please!” _

“ _ Okay! Jennifer! You feel so good! Jen!” _ Sharing her breath, Daniel’s face contorted as he balanced their foreheads together, vigorously nailing her into the cushions and whimpering helplessly. “ _ Jen! I...I’m gonna...I...I...I…” _ Tall body juddering above with a whine, Daniel’s left eye twitched as his pink lips moved over Jennifer’s cheek and he gulped air. “I’m sorry...I’m sorry…”

Seconds behind, Jennifer sprung apart with a suppressed groan. “ _ Daniel! Yes!” _

The way she quivered beneath him alarmed Daniel. Though he watched videos of sex before, this didn’t resemble what he’d seen. In those, the women screamed. So loud. So...angry, even. Daniel didn’t like that very much. When it looked like they were in pain. But finding softer, sexy things online wasn’t always easy, and as a result, he couldn’t comprehend Jennifer’s reaction.

“Are you okay?” Holding himself away as the wet spot blossomed over his jeans, Daniel swallowed. “Did I hurt you?”

“No…” Jennifer did touch Daniel’s face then, surrendering to the urge as her fingers whispered past his prominent cheekbone, his sharp jaw. “You didn’t. That felt good. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, um, I just…” Daniel glanced between them, deep blue eyes shifting uncomfortably. “I didn’t...I didn’t mean to...do that. It just...felt so good.”

Nodding, Jennifer cleared his flattened hair from Daniel’s forehead. “Yeah. It did. And I did, too. Don’t worry.”

Daniel sat up, tilting his head at Jennifer in amazement as she joined him and fixed her clothes. “You did? You mean you had a...a…”

“Yeah…” Jennifer shrugged sheepishly, playing with the edge of her skirt. “I did…”

“Oh…” A tiny, proud smile hitched onto Daniel’s wide mouth before he tucked it away. “That’s...good.”

“Yeah. It was.” Quiet, they both realized the fourth episode of ‘Firefly’ rolled on without their knowledge. Jennifer looked at Daniel’s jeans and considered. “Do you want me to put your pants in the wash? I…” Biting the inside of her cheek, Jennifer shrugged. “I don’t want you to get in trouble when you go home.”

In truth, Daniel already started to worry about that possibility and sighed with relief. “Yeah, um, thank you. But…” Glancing from his lap to Jennifer and back again, Daniel swallowed. “What...what should I wear while they’re in there?”

“Oh…” Frowning, Jennifer mentally flipped through her closet. “Well...I have some sweatpants that might fit you for now. Or I can give you a towel.”

“I’ll try the sweatpants, please. If that’s okay.”

“Okay.” Daniel timidly followed Jennifer, standing outside of her bedroom as she disappeared within, emerging with a pair of purple pants. “Sorry they’re kind of...girly.”

Expansive shoulders lifting, Daniel smiled. “That’s okay. I don’t mind.” 

Going to the bathroom to change, Jennifer stopped him as Daniel closed the door. “I can wash your underwear, too. If you want.”

“Oh…” Self conscious of his white briefs, Daniel hoped Jennifer wouldn’t judge him and nodded as he made a mental note to buy more appealing underwear now that someone else might see them for the first time. “Okay.”

Exiting the bathroom soon after in the purple sweats, floppy around his svelte hips and tiny backside and exposing several inches of ankle, Daniel apprehensively handed Jennifer the bundle of his soiled jeans with the underwear bunched in the center, hoping she wouldn’t inspect too closely. She didn’t.

Gurgle of the washing machine in the background, Daniel added his phone, keys, and wallet to his flute case on Jennifer’s counter before the two moseyed back to the couch. As they sat next to one another, though the initial tension disappeared, a new kind of discomfort reared as Daniel and Jennifer weren’t sure how to navigate this fresh level of intimacy.

Jennifer assumed their knees brushing up against one another might be alright as she pressed play on ‘Firefly’ again. Rubbing his palms over the lavender fabric encasing his thick thighs, Daniel cleared his throat as he uncertainly peeked at Jennifer from the corner of his eye. “Can I...would it be okay if I put my arm around you while we watch?”

“Yeah, okay.” Jennifer scooted closer and Daniel draped loosely over her shoulders. For a while they simply sat, reticent to relax. But soon, Jennifer’s limbs remembered their sated weariness and melted against the strong, plush structure of Daniel, her hand perched atop his little tummy, rising and falling, rising and falling with his ever-slowing breath. 

Daniel slumped down, the curve of Jennifer tucking securely beneath as his fatigued head soon rested upon a bed of perfumed crimson. Left eye waving a tired goodbye, followed not long after by the right, Daniel slept, pink lips parted and dreams glorious.

Ear trained to the ding of her machine, Jennifer carefully unraveled to switch the clothes over to the dryer before sneaking back into the warmth of Daniel, nestling against his slumbering form with tiny noises of delight.

But the louder, jarring buzz of the dryer an hour later startled them both, Daniel snorting awake and Jennifer nearly smacking herself in the face in her jerk to alertness. “We fell asleep.” Voice groggy, Daniel blinked down at her with gummy eyes, dark hair askew and drool adorning the corner of his wide mouth, which she could only assume dribbled onto her scalp. 

Jennifer thought he never looked quite so beautiful. Perhaps such things were only supposed to take place in silly stories, those she enjoyed with princesses and castles, heroes and dragons, but her heart truly did ache at the sight. “Yeah. We did.”

“Is it, um…” Adam’s apple bobbing with difficulty, Daniel turned his attention to the kitchen. “Is it okay if I have some water? I’m thirsty.”

“Sure. Of course.” Jennifer rose to get him a glass, and Daniel drank half down before he picked up his phone and nearly choked.

“Shoot! Shoot. Dang. Dang it, I…” Large fingers scrolling in a panic and eyes wide, Daniel shook his head altogether too quickly.

Jennifer tried to catch his focus, but Daniel already dialed. “What’s wrong?”

“My mom.” Daniel replied quickly. “Sorry. Hang on.”

Only able to hear half of the conversation, Jennifer didn’t need to know what Daniel’s mother said in order to understand he was in deep, deep trouble, his posture worsening with every attempt to calm the other end of the line. “But mom... _ mom _ . I’m...Can’t I just--Mom. Mom, please...mom.  _ Mom!”  _ Defeat drowning his tone, Daniel hung his head. “Okay...okay, I’ll...I’ll be home soon. Bye mom. Yeah...love you, too. I will. Bye…”

Arm dropping the phone, Daniel couldn’t look at Jennifer, voice flat with disappointment. “I have to go home.”

“Oh...that’s okay.” Jennifer took a step toward Daniel, intending to touch his forearm in comfort, but he started to shake his head from side to side. Rapidly. Angrily.

“I don’t want to.” Nostrils wide and aggravated at the pressure behind his eyes, especially in front of Jennifer, Daniel tried to shove his phone in his pocket, and found there was no familiar opening waiting as he wasn’t wearing his own jeans, and set it on the counter. A little too hard. A little too loud.

Jennifer jumped. “I’m sorry.” Daniel flicked out his wrists, eyes glued to the ceiling as he sharply inhaled, mouth open. “I’m sorry. I’m...I’m just upset. We were…” Fingers tapping a Morse code even faster than his agitated speech over his thighs, Daniel swayed from side to side, all the while staring up, up, up. “We were having such a good time. And I...I told my mom I was with Lyle. But I guess Lyle came by looking for me. So now my mom knows I lied. That was so stupid. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that. I’m so stupid. I’m sorry, Jennifer. I don’t want to go. I’m sorry.”

Every facet of his tall frame roaring into hyperdrive, Jennifer knew what to do. Not because she read a book, or Daniel told her, but because she wished someone would treat her with the same patience in these flares. 

Jennifer took half a step forward. Not too close. Not to invade the bubble, but close enough that Daniel might see the top of her head, remember she resided with him in this room, on the ground. Clearing her throat, Jennifer imbibed her tone with all the adoration, all the appreciation she possessed for Daniel’s being, then switched her voice down to a velvet purr. “Daniel.” Still, Daniel persisted, arms flapping in his distress. “Daniel.” A reduction. A steadiness. But Jennifer couldn’t find the treasure of his sapphire eyes just yet. “Daniel.”

Daniel looked down. It didn’t sound or seem like Jennifer was angry. But he clocked those wrong before. And often someone saying his name meant Daniel made a mistake. Shelf of his shoulders collapsing, Daniel’s square chin hit his chest before he peered up at Jennifer through his dark lashes, whispering. “Yeah?”

“It’s okay.” Moving toward him, Jennifer held out her hand, and waited. Just waited. “We can get together again another time. I don’t want you to be in trouble.”

Daniel grasped her fingers, rocking forward on the balls of his large feet. “I’m sorry. I just...I shouldn’t have lied. I’m so stupid…”

“No, you’re not.” Jennifer shook her head. Shook it again to make sure Daniel saw her dissent to this statement. “You’re very smart, Daniel. It’s one of the reasons why I like you so much.”

Quiet, Daniel shuffled forward, tucking his face in the crook of Jennifer’s neck as he hugged her plush middle. “You’re the smartest person I know. And I like you so much, too.”

Daniel and Jennifer held each other in the silence of her quaint kitchen for what felt like a long time before he finally admitted if he didn’t leave, his punishment would be even greater. Retrieving his clothes from the dryer, Jennifer watched Daniel disappear into the bathroom again, and when he came out, the metal button of his jeans seared his little belly, but he supposed nothing could be done about that now.

“Okay, so…” Picking up his flute case, Daniel folded his lips under as Jennifer walked him to the door. “Is it okay if I text you? We don’t have the show tomorrow.” Daniel meant to say, ‘I don’t want to wait two days to talk to you. I’ll miss you, Jennifer’ but this came out instead.

Jennifer nodded. “Yeah, I’d like that.” Though she and Daniel traded numbers long before for the sake of work, they didn’t exchange casual messages often. Sometimes she would be brave, discovering a ‘Firefly’ meme she thought he might enjoy. Even Daniel’s simple responses of ‘lol’ or ‘cute’ caused her heart to flutter. And when Daniel found one of her favorite character, Captain Mal, and sent the image her way unprompted, Jennifer beamed all day.

“Okay. Will it be too late if I text you when I get home?” Stepping into the hallway, Daniel double checked his pockets to make sure nothing was left behind. “I don’t want to wake you up.”

“You can text me anytime.” Jennifer smiled, lips spreading wider when Daniel reflected her glee.

“Great. You can, too.”

“Great.” Fiddling with the lock, Jennifer’s green eyes bounced from the floor to Daniel and back again. “Do...you wanna kiss goodbye?”

Daniel nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah. I do.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

Lips joining, Daniel’s fingertips whispered over her cheek and Jennifer reveled in a squeeze of his love handles, their tongues starting to develop a unique, albeit vacillating cadence. Reluctantly withdrawing and faces red, Daniel dipped in for one last peck to Jennifer’s cheek before he held a palm aloft in a too-fast wave. “Okay there. Goodbye, Jennifer. Thank you for having me over. I’ll let you know when I get home.”

“Okay there, Daniel. Thanks for coming. Get home safe.” Jennifer watched his lurching form disappear down the hallway before she closed the door. Jumping up and down, a high shriek of joy breached Jennifer’s plump lips before she spotted the clock and covered her mouth. Jennifer dashed to the sofa and plunged her face into a throw pillow, screaming and kicking and happy.

Then, a little too happy, maybe. Or perhaps a little too everything. Moisture sprung from her beaconed eyes, chest pumping, and Jennifer told herself to breathe. Calm. Do a grounding exercise.

Gaze sling-shotting around the room, Jennifer listed everything she could find that was red. Then orange. Then yellow. All the way through the rainbow, stopping once in a while to patiently, meticulously tell herself the story of where an item came from if her mind knew the memory to be comforting.

Panic gone and limbs heavy from the leaking adrenaline, Jennifer dragged herself to bed, changing into her Starship Enterprise pajamas. She loved when they were clean after laundry day.

Retrieving her journal from the hiding place from beneath the mattress and her good pen from the drawer, the one which glided over pages with effortless, dexterous ease which left her feeling like a scribe in a fairytale, Jennifer didn’t merely add to the next open section below her previous entry.

Nor did she use the following page, as there were two smudges, and you could see the imprints from yesterday’s writing. And that journaling was sad. Today required a happy, fresh sheet all its own.

Jennifer gripped the pen precisely. Set the tip exactly where she desired. Formed her letters up and down and around in the most elegant cursive her hand could create.

_ Daniel likes me back. _

_ Daniel likes me back. _

_ Daniel likes me back. _

Staring down at the repeated sentences, Jennifer still couldn’t believe their truth, and a giggle of joy left her smiling face as she rocked back and forth. 

Jennifer set about the task of recounting the evening with exacting detail until her fingers seized and her diary dug a cleft into her forearm. Absorbed in the reverie, if Jennifer went through her usual bedtime routine of putting in the silicone earplugs before playing with her phone or reading, she would not have heard the buzzing of a text on the bedside stand.

As it was, she beamed when she saw a straightforward, sweet text from Daniel.

Daniel:  _ Just got home. I forgot to say I had fun tonight. I’m sorry. Thank you. _

In truth, Daniel returned almost half an hour previous, but the haranguing from his mother concerning his whereabouts took longer than anyone could’ve predicted. After eventually convincing her he made a new ‘friend’ and they lost track of time over a game of Pandemic, Daniel slunk to the privacy of his room to ready himself for bed.

Laying down and watching the dots dance as Jennifer composed her reply, deleted it, and composed it again, Daniel hoped what he said was alright, that Jennifer wasn’t angry at him for not saying he enjoyed himself earlier. Daniel didn’t want to be rude.

Jennifer: _ I had fun, too. No need to apologize. Thank you. I’m really glad you came over and that you want to be my boyfriend. _

Hugging his pillow to his firm chest, Daniel tucked his wide grin away before responding.

Daniel:  _ I’m really glad you want to be my girlfriend, too. Can I ask you something? Don’t worry. It isn’t bad. _

Daniel knew to add modifiers when posing questions like these. Sometimes people didn’t. They would start a conversation with Daniel saying, ‘We need to talk’ or ‘I need to see you about something’ and panic would instantly flood his pale skin and clog the fibres of his mind. Daniel hoped the way he phrased this to Jennifer was sufficient, and wondered if he should’ve just come right out with his query instead to save her any worry.

Jennifer:  _ Sure, what’s up? _   
  


Fingers tight around her phone, Jennifer didn’t notice she held her breath. Sometimes people said things were okay and that wasn’t true. Daniel never did that, but Jennifer defaulted to caution.

Daniel:  _ How long have you liked me? _

Jennifer hesitated. Typed ‘Forever.’ Deleted it, assuming that might scare Daniel. She tried ‘Since I first started at the show’ but that didn’t seem much less daunting.

Jennifer:  _ A long time. _

Daniel:  _ I wish I would have noticed. We could have been together earlier. I’m sorry I didn’t. _

A warmth encapsulated Jennifer and she had to take a break to cry. She felt bad making Daniel wait, but she couldn’t see the screen.

Jennifer:  _ Don’t be sorry. That’s really nice. Thank you. I should have said something sooner. I was just scared. _

Daniel:  _ I would have been, too. It’s okay. Thank you for telling me today. You’re so brave. _

Daniel thought maybe Jennifer fell asleep, as nearly ten minutes passed. Turning out the light, the vibration of his phone startled him and Daniel grabbed his backup glasses from the drawer, since he already removed his contacts. 

Jennifer:  _ Thank you. You’re so nice to me. I like you a lot. _

Daniel: _ I like you a lot, too. I’m sorry, I’m going to sleep now. I hope you have a good night. _

Jennifer:  _ No need to be sorry. I should sleep, too. Have a good night. Text me tomorrow if you want to. _

Daniel: _ I will. Sleep well. _

Daniel and Jennifer each hunkered beneath their blankets. As was their custom, with deep, soothing breaths and a few silent moments, they sank into themselves, into worlds of their own creation. For when a person walks the earth, and reality is perhaps too harsh, too cruel, for the gentle shell in which they inhabit, that being summons a different existence for themselves.

And though Daniel and Jennifer lay in different beds, in different thoughts, the dream scapes where they could be the heroes, the stars--strong, brave, beautiful, loved; were more similar than either could possibly imagine.


	3. 3

Playing hard to get did not concern Daniel as he washed his face, waiting only until he could see clearly through his contacts to text Jennifer.

Daniel:  _ Good morning. How are you? _

Jennifer:  _ I’m good, how are you doing today? _

Daniel:  _ Pretty good, just woke up. _

Jennifer:  _ I’m sorry, I forgot to ask last night. Was your mom really mad? _

Daniel:  _ Yeah, she was. _

Jennifer:  _ I’m sorry.  _

Daniel:  _ It’s okay. Not your fault. Don’t worry about it. I’m excited to see you at the show tomorrow. _

Pausing, Jennifer contemplated, and her exuberance won out her nerves.

Jennifer:  _ If you want to come over today you can. If you’re not in too much trouble. But only if you want to. _

Perched and waiting at the kitchen table, Daniel eyed his mother cautiously as she flipped sausages in the pan, dark hair on his arm rising in his anticipation.

Daniel:  _ Is it okay if I let you know in a little while? I’ll ask my mom and text you later if that’s alright. _

Jennifer:  _ Sure, no problem. Sounds good. _

Daniel didn’t like that he was thirty and his mother controlled his social life, but standing up for himself never exactly came naturally. Performing several extra, unwarranted chores, Daniel slyly broached the subject with his mother, careful to mask the glee from his features when she assented.

A few hours later, three chapters into a new fantasy novel, Jennifer picked up her phone when the text came through.

Daniel:  _ My mom said it’s okay if you still want to get together today. _

Jennifer:  _ Yeah, I would like to if you do. I’m free anytime. _

Daniel:  _ Great, is it okay if I head over now? It will take me about an hour. _

Jennifer:  _ Sure, sounds good. Just buzz for 221 when you get here and I’ll let you up. _

When the bell rang, Jennifer opened the door to reveal Daniel, thrusting a bunch of flowers under her nose and navy shirt buttoned to his neck. People told him he looked good in blue. Well, his mother did.

“Here, um…” Arm retreating, Daniel’s pink lips disappeared in his uncertainty as he stared at the floor. “I got you these. I...if you don’t like them. Or if you’re allergic. That’s okay. I just thought--”

“I like them.” Jennifer accepted the bouquet, burying her face among the carnations, Daniel chose purple ones, remembering her favorite color, and Jennifer inhaled deeply as she blinked back tears of gratitude. “Thank you so much. That’s really nice. They’re so pretty.”

Stepping inside, Daniel untied his brown shoes with a tiny smile. “You’re welcome. Oh, I also got you these.” Daniel removed the Star Wars backpack from his broad shoulders, unzipping and retrieving a small heart shaped box of chocolates. “If...if you want them.”

Daniel’s backpack also contained his toothbrush, contact case and solution, flute, deodorant, and a change of clothes, complete with extra jeans. Normally he would just wear the same jeans as before on a sleepover. That’s what he did when he stayed at Lyle’s. But after last time, he thought the garment prudent. Not that Daniel assumed he would be spending the night. He simply wanted to be prepared. Just in case.

“Thank you so much.” Starting to remove the cellophane, Jennifer looked up at Daniel. “Do you want some?”

“Oh, I can’t.” Daniel set his backpack on the counter and shook his head. “I’m allergic to nuts.” Shrugging his vast shoulders, Daniel noticed Jennifer appeared different. Her hair, usually a tad on the ratty side, was brushed into fluffy scarlet waves. She wore the tighter purple sweatshirt he remembered from their little Christmas party above a slightly less boxy cream skirt. Jennifer was lovely. Daniel wondered if she knew. “I just wanted you to have them.” Fingers tapping on his thick thigh, Daniel swallowed. “You look really pretty.”

Fingers sticking to the blush on her cheek, Jennifer tittered. “Th-thank you. So do you, I mean…” Flustered, Jennifer blinked rapidly and rocked back and forth on her heels. “I mean, you look really handsome. Yeah. That.”

Blossoms of crimson decorating his pasty skin, Daniel twisted and giggled. “Thank you.” Quiet, Daniel’s deep blue eyes peeked at Jennifer from the utmost corner of his vision as he inhaled an emboldening breath. “Could I kiss you? Maybe?”

“Yeah.” Jennifer tossed the chocolates haphazardly on the counter in her thrill, then felt bad and touched the box into a more tender place before they approached one another. 

Hands hovered inches away as though their bodies were surrounded with an invisible force field before they could decide on placement, Jennifer draping her arms over Daniel’s expansive shoulders as he took her by the waist. Lips touching, they held in patience, before both opened their mouths, heads swimming languidly to the side and swatting away the awareness of their trembling limbs. 

The teeny, tiny noises issuing from Jennifer when he kissed her revved Daniel in ways he couldn’t quite fathom. Daniel hummed, too, large hands splaying over the small of Jennifer’s back as he bent his knees. Were he more confident, Daniel may have lifted her, perched Jennifer on the counter. She would’ve loved it, and he could’ve better achieved his goal of closeness, of warmth. 

But Daniel contented himself with curving around her voluptuous yet stocky body, their arms coiling with a tightness most would find overwhelming, but they basked in the reassuring pressure.

“Um, so…” Nostrils and pupils wide, Daniel looked away from the blinding intensity of Jennifer’s adoring gaze to the living room. “Did...should we go to the couch again? I...or...only if you want to. I…”

“Yeah, we...we could…” Breath hasty, Jennifer trickled her fingers through Daniel’s brunette tresses as she spoke, unaware that this act aroused him perhaps more than anything she could do above his waist. “Or we could, um...I mean, if you want...we could go to my room…”

Cobalt eyes falling on the opposite doorway, Daniel swallowed. “Your bedroom?” It seemed important to remind himself there was a bed within that space, Daniel never having entered a girl’s room before.

“Yeah...if you want to.”

“Do you want to?”

“Yeah. If you do.”

“I do.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

As Jennifer flipped on the light, Daniel once again awed at the extent of her fan memorabilia. Though the nature of items decorating this intimate area was different. More images of actors and characters, men, Jennifer found attractive. Daniel didn’t mind, didn’t feel threatened. He thought many of them were pretty sexy, too. Daniel wondered if he could tell Jennifer that someday. No one else knew.

“So...this is my room.” Jennifer spread her arms wide, gnawing on her lip. “Yeah, um...do you want to sit?”

Daniel bobbed his head and joined her on the mattress. Interlacing their fingers in trepidation, Daniel peeked over his broad shoulder at the pillows. “So...so what do you wanna do?”

Jennifer squeezed Daniel’s agile hand and cleared her throat. “Maybe...maybe we should talk about it a little first.”

“Yeah.” Sighing in relief, Daniel nodded. “That sounds good.”

“So, um...yesterday. When we…” Glancing toward the living room, Jennifer cleared her throat. “Was that okay?”

Daniel scrunched his toes in the carpet, voice small. “I...were you okay?”

“Yeah.” Jennifer nodded. “I...liked it a lot. That felt really good.”

“Yeah.” Grin rising to his wide mouth, Daniel unraveled a little. “It did. I liked it, too.”

Silent for a second, Jennifer stroked Daniel’s large thumb, admiring the artful shape. “So...do you wanna do that again? Or...something else?”

“Something else?” Daniel arched a dark eyebrow, scanning Jennifer’s uncertain face.

“Yeah, I...if...only if you want to. We could do...more stuff. But we don’t have to. I liked what we did last night.” Shifting, Jennifer hoped she didn’t make Daniel uncomfortable.

Daniel swallowed hard. Noticed how close Jennifer’s thigh was to his knuckles. “What...what kind of stuff?”

“I...I don’t want you to think I’m...easy.” Jennifer muttered quickly and withdrew her fingers. “I’m sorry.”

“No, no…” Reaching out, Daniel thought touching her might not be the best idea. But he wanted to offer comfort somehow. His hand landed between them on the blanket and he leaned in a little. “I don’t think that. I wouldn’t. I’m sorry.”

Lungs catching, Jennifer shook her head rapidly. “Don’t apologize. I just…” Exhaling a fountain of words, Jennifer covered her face. “I like you a lot. And last night was so fun. And I want to try things. But I don’t want you to think I’m a...a...a slut.”

Tears, hot and wet, brimmed and Jennifer folded in on herself, breath coming in gasps. She didn’t want to be crying in front of Daniel, though he’d seen her weep several times before when events went wrong at the station, but to do so now when they were trying to have a pleasant evening only served to make her more upset.

Daniel never knew what to do when people cried. Hell, he didn’t know what to do when he cried. But Daniel knew what he  _ wished _ someone would do for him when he cried, and maybe, just maybe, that could be enough.

“Hey Jennifer?” Voice a tender whisper, Daniel nudged her with a broad shoulder and two of her fingers opened to reveal a red, puffy eye. “I would never think that. Okay? No matter what. And I like you a lot, too. And I want to do things, too. And I’m sorry if I made you cry. If you want me to go home…” Palms on the mattress, Daniel nodded and lifted himself up. “I can. I just...I just want you to be happy and okay.”

Jennifer grasped his forearm, sniffing and shaking her head, “Don’t go. Please. I’m sorry.” Licking her lips and tasting salt, Jennifer nodded. “Really. I’m okay. Sometimes, I just...I get worked up.”

Bobbing his head in understanding, Daniel took her hand. “You don’t need to apologize. I do, too. That’s okay.”

“Hang on.” Jennifer reached into her bedside drawer and unspooled a few sheets of toilet paper (she never understood the point of buying kleenex when she already possessed a perfectly good paper product that served the same purpose) wiping her eyes and blowing her nose. 

Unaware of the white fibers dotting her eyelashes, Daniel smiled. He liked how they made Jennifer look as if she just walked in from the snow. “So, you...you wanna do other stuff, too?” Jennifer peered up at him through her pink-rimmed gaze and Daniel bobbed his head.

“Yeah...if you do. That...I...it sounds good.” Rubbing his sweaty palms on his jeans, Daniel swallowed. “What...what kinda stuff do you wanna do?”

“I dunno, what do you wanna do?”

“I dunno.”

Stuck at a stalemate, they both stared at the carpet and blinked before an idea occurred to Jennifer. Nervous, she hardly dared to move her mouth as she peeked over at Daniel. “We could get under the covers.” Jennifer suggested timidly.

Nostrils flaring, Daniel couldn’t help but linger over Jennifer’s curves as he asked. “With...with our clothes on?”

“Maybe…” Thinking for a minute, Jennifer tried not to stare at Daniel’s body. “Maybe...if we just...just took off our outer clothes. And...and kept out underwear on. Would...does that sound okay?”

“Yeah.” Daniel bobbed his head insistently, mind whirring at the possibilities of what lurked beneath the sea of purple covering Jennifer all this time. “Yeah, okay.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure. Are you?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

Standing and splitting, they instinctively turned away from one another as Daniel unbuttoned his shirt and circled around to the opposite side of the bed. Jennifer looked cautiously to Daniel before peeling her sweater overhead, posture atrocious as she reached behind to unzip her skirt. Removing his socks, Daniel was so enthralled by the smooth, pale line of Jennifer’s back, he didn't realize he unbuckled, rebuckled, and unbuckled his belt until the cream fabric dropped, showing her panties. Daniel’s eyes skidded away in fear.

Hurriedly placing herself beneath the sheets, Jennifer was thankful she thought to wear her cutest matching lavender bra and underwear as she tried not to openly gawk at Daniel.

But the temptation proved overwhelming after nearly a year of imagining his body, the tingle between her thighs irrepressible as she absorbed the sight of his fluffy dark chest hair, pudgy little tummy, a flash of blue boxers and surprisingly shapely legs before Daniel tucked himself in on the other side.

For a moment they sat in tense silence, covers pulled up around Jennifer’s chest and both looking straight ahead as if they were a couple on a sitcom which couldn’t show anything explicit. Daniel turned to Jennifer, fists bunching in the blanket. “Do...do you wanna kiss now?”

“Yeah.” Jennifer scooted closer. So did Daniel. Jennifer cupped his strong jaw. Daniel’s big hand poised above her waist, then looked to Jennifer for confirmation and she nodded before their mouths met. 

Tongues dancing, as Jennifer laced her fingers into Daniel’s silken tresses, she dropped her hold on the blanket. One eye peeping open, Daniel marveled at Jennifer’s cleavage. Jennifer’s breasts were large, and they appeared soft. Warm. But Daniel didn’t think asking to touch was a good idea, so he gladly squeezed her waist instead.

But Jennifer clocked the immobility of Daniel’s lips, her eyes peeking to see his staring down. Jennifer thought his fascination adorable and nearly giggled. But she made a promise to herself never to laugh at Daniel, not in jest, not ever. 

“You, um…” Leaving his mouth, Jennifer covered Daniel’s hand with her own. “You can touch them. If you want.”

“Really?” Daniel’s wrist twitched, but his arm stayed down as he unconsciously licked his lips and continued to examine Jennifer’s chest.

“Do you, um…” Reaching back to undo the clasp, Jennifer raised an auburn brow. “Do you wanna see?”

“You don’t have to do that.” Shaking his head, Daniel thought back to Jennifer’s story from the night before. He wanted her to feel safe.

Clutching the cups to her front, Jennifer let the straps fall. “I know, I...I want to. If you want to…”

“Okay…” Squirming a little, Daniel bobbed his head. “If you’re sure…”

“I am.” Jennifer slid the bra off, tossing it atop the pile of her clothes and reflexively covering herself for a moment before she relaxed and let her arms fall. 

Daniel studied her breasts, the enticing shape, the hardened pink nipples, before his sapphire eyes lifted to Jennifer’s face. For a couple of minutes Daniel said nothing, and when he raised his hand, Jennifer tensed in preparation, but instead his fingers worked into the red sea of her hair as he let out a shivering sigh. “You’re so pretty, Jennifer.”

Jennifer reached out to touch Daniel’s face and stopped. Daniel nodded, and she graced his prominent cheekbone, his sharp jawline, the curve of his brow. “Daniel, would it…” Biting her lip, Jennifer inhaled. “Would it bother you...if I said...you were pretty, too?”

“No.” Daniel replied softly, twisting a crimson lock between three fingers. “You think I’m pretty?”

“I think…” Jennifer took in Daniel’s earnest, kind face and sighed. “I think you’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen.”

Daniel severed the tether of their gaze, square chin down. His mouth opened. Closed. Opened again. “Why…” Retracting his hands to his lap, the shelf of his shoulders broke and Daniel spoke in the shadow of a whisper. “Why do you like me?”

In truth, Jennifer probably wouldn’t be able to list all the reasons why in a single night they shared. But tilting her head, she petted over his chestnut tresses, and as she murmured, Daniel nestled into her touch. “Daniel...you’re good to me. A lot of people...well, they...they just aren’t.” Jennifer blinked as she continued to comb through his hair. “And...after I got to know you, I kind of felt like we were…” Gesturing to her own chest, Jennifer appreciated that Daniel never rushed her when she tried to think, to speak. “The same, maybe. You…” Jennifer stopped and wrapped her arms around his wide frame, kissing Daniel’s shoulder and nuzzling her cheek against his warm succor. “You make me feel like I’m not broken.”

Adjusting, Daniel looped his arms around Jennifer, planting his lips atop her scarlet hair with a tremulous inhale of air. “You’re not.” Daniel massaged the small of her back, yearning of their skin momentarily forgotten, or maybe quenched with an emotion beyond lust. After a beat of silence, Daniel tightened his grip. “Or maybe…” Prominent brows furrowed and pink lips pursed, Daniel didn’t want to offend, but Jennifer was the smartest person he knew, so it seemed wise to discuss his inklings. “Maybe...we both are. Broken. At least… When people look from the outside. But...just…” Staring off in the middle distance, Daniel sought the correct words. “Just...fit together. Maybe…”

“Like kintsugi?” Jennifer knew Daniel shared her interest in Japanese culture, and figured he would understand her reference to the art of repairing shattered pottery. The pieces reformed with a golden, silver, or platinum dusted lacquer to fuse a fresh creation.

“Yeah!” Head popping up, Daniel nodded insistently. “Yeah, like that. Maybe…” Speaking rapidly, he jiggled Jennifer in his firm arms and she smiled. “Maybe we’re like a kintsugi vase or...or pot or whatever. Broken, but...but put us together and...and…and...”

“And it’s more beautiful than if it were whole in the first place.” 

Daniel locked into Jennifer’s viridescent gaze, and though the practice took effort for both, and maybe always would, looking into each other’s eyes for a minute was easier than peeking at anyone else for a second. “Yeah. Exactly.”

Faces neared. Darting from eyes to lips and back again before their mouths met. Jennifer delighted herself in Daniel’s dark tresses, smudging his slicked down style askew until a deep, satisfied hum burbled up from his cavernous chest. Daniel scooched close, their knees notched together as he clutched Jennifer’s plush middle. 

Taking Daniel’s large hand, Jennifer slowly, slowly, guided him over the valley of her waist, past the plain of her ribs, to rest upon the pillowy hill of her breast. Once again Daniel’s lips struggled to maintain coordination as his eyes widened in wonder, Jennifer directing his lengthy fingers in how best to massage the tender flesh.

The sensation was different than Daniel imagined. He thought they would be harder. And yet somehow squishier, too. Though Daniel expended probably the average amount of brain power for a thirty year old female-attracted guy in thinking about breasts, he truly never imagined he’d be allowed to touch one for real. The experience was overwhelming. Strange. Exhilarating.

As his sizable hand took over and their twirling tongues developed a satisfying rhythm, little noises of effervescent joy leaked from between Daniel and Jennifer’s united lips. Rubbing the back of Daniel’s neck, Jennifer’s green gaze briefly opened and when she looked down, the tent of his considerable erection beneath the blanket led to the faltering of her mouth instead.

Worried he might be squeezing too hard, Daniel stopped and tracked Jennifer’s eyes. “Oh, I…” Shifting, Daniel covered his lap, and Jennifer saw his blush started lower on his pale skin than she would’ve guessed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…”

“Oh, no, I don’t mind.” Focus still glued between his legs, Jennifer unconsciously licked her lips. “It’s...it’s fine. Um…” Inhaling courage, Jennifer looked to Daniel’s worried cobalt eyes. “Could I...could I see? I mean...if you wanna show me...If...yeah…”

“Oh…” Unraveling his arms, Daniel glanced down at himself, rolls of neck skin bunching as he contemplated. “You want to?”

“Yeah.”

“Are you sure?”

“Only if you want to.”

“I don’t mind.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

With a clearing of his throat and a lift of his narrow hips, Daniel inched the fabric of his boxers (which, were Jennifer to inspect closely, she would see still bore the fresh fold lines from the packaging as Daniel purchased them on his walk over, unwilling to explain to his mother why he desired a different style of underwear) down off his tiny ass, wriggling free beneath the covers. Daniel gripped the edge of the sheet, studying Jennifer apprehensively before exposing himself in one fluid motion. Not with a flourish, not with pride. But with every instinct telling him to hide, shrink, conceal as Daniel’s fingers rattled incessantly over the mattress, nostrils flared and mouth tight as he turned away from Jennifer’s wide eyed stare.

Jennifer saw penises before. On screens. And during their activities the night before, Daniel’s felt substantial, but there was no true way to tell. And so Jennifer ogled the column of upstanding thick pink, bending forward and tilting her head, as though mesmerized by an exotic offering at the zoo. “It’s so big.”

“It is?” Blinking down at his cock, then to Jennifer, Daniel pondered. Though not a concern which bothered him, per se, he did think about his size from time to time while watching porn. But it didn’t occur to Daniel that assuming himself average among the men he witnessed in videos held different connotations. 

Jennifer nodded. Her hand twitched. “Could, I, um…” Chewing on her lip, her emerald eyes bounced from Daniel’s cock to his face and back. “Could I touch it? If...if you want me to, I mean? We don’t have to do that. We can just...do what we did last night. But if you wanna…”

“I do.” Shocking even himself as he urgently bobbed his head, Daniel swallowed hard. “I mean...yes. If you want to. That...sounds nice.”

“Okay…” With the same concentration solidifying her features Jennifer unknowingly utilized for exams, she wrapped her hand around Daniel’s shaft, gently, reminding herself he could be fragile. Jennifer expected a different texture. Though the idea prompted one too many stupid jokes, she couldn’t help but be reminded of the first time she played with a snake. Then, too, she thought the creature would be slimy, moist, repulsive.

But Jennifer discovered Daniel’s cock to be clean and dry. And as she lifted her wrist, pulling the paper thin skin up and over the artfully carved head and down again with gliding precision, Jennifer marveled.

Jennifer played for a while with this fascinating new toy. Tracing the veins, pretty and not too prominent, in her opinion. Rubbing the wide head and skipping her thumb through the collecting dew. Jerking at various speeds, experimenting with the pressure of her dainty fingers.

Such was Jennifer’s absorption with Daniel’s massive cock, she didn’t notice the carnival ride of reactions through the other parts of his tall body. Daniel fisted in the sheets, heels kicking over the mattress as he squirmed. Neck arching and sharp jaw dropping, he tapped Jennifer’s arm. “Hey, um, Jennifer?”

Startled from her reverie, Jennifer’s hand stopped and she looked up to see Daniel, face pink and breath labored. “Yeah?”

“Will, um…” Hips nudging himself into the tight circle of her fist of their own volition, Daniel reached up to cup her cheek. “Can...can we kiss while you do that? Maybe?”

“Oh! Yeah, sure.” As soon as Jennifer came near, Daniel took her face in both hands, fusing their lips together and licking into her mouth. Though thrown by his lack of trepidation, Jennifer liked the change, especially when she resumed her tugging and a deep, strained, “ _ Oh Jennifer, yes!” _ rumbled out of Daniel.

Daniel’s needy noises, his humping hips, all served to soak Jennifer’s panties as she vigorously yanked, squeezing her thighs together in search of friction.

Daniel wanted to touch Jennifer. Wanted nothing more than to make her feel good, too. But between trying to keep up with kissing and the flurry of sensations her fingers created, Daniel couldn’t handle another task. “ _ Jennifer! Yes! Thank you! It feels so good!” _

“Yeah?” Leaning back just enough to see Daniel’s face, Jennifer swept back into his gasping lips when she witnessed his expression. Inner corners of his dark brows knit and raised, sapphire eyes fluttering in uneven awe. And a ravishing tension making every feature even more defined and crisp as Daniel seemed trapped in a purgatory composed of both harrowing agony and unending bliss. 

Jennifer spoke against his quivering pink lips, wrist flashing over Daniel’s leaking cock. “It’s alright? Should I change anything?”

“ _ So good! _ ” Daniel breathed, thrusting feverishly and clinging to Jennifer’s arms, her shoulders, her hair as the crackling heat in the pit of his stomach scrambled his limbs. “ _ You feel so good, Jen! Jen! I like you so much! You’re so pretty! Keep going! Please! Please! Jennifer! _ ”

Kissing over his sculpted jaw as Daniel writhed against the headboard with his eyes shut, Jennifer considered. “Hey Daniel…” Whimpers huffed out of him as he fought to look at Jennifer’s ponderous face. “Can I try using my mouth, maybe? I wanna see what that’s like.”

“ _ Oh yes! Jennifer, yes! Please! If you wanna, okay, okay!”  _

In retrospect, the sight alone of Jennifer lowering herself to encase Daniel’s pleading purple cock with her lips may have been too much. But Jennifer didn’t know what might happen if she sucked with fervor at that point. And Daniel had no idea just how close he was to the precipice when he agreed to Jennifer’s proposal.

As a result, when Daniel exploded hot cum over Jennifer’s tongue with a high whine, he fearfully pulled her up by the shoulders before the second spurt could shoot down her unsuspecting throat. “ _ No, no, no, no, no…” _

Ropes of sticky white speckling his heaving belly, Daniel covered his face in shame. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

Jennifer looked at Daniel, the taste in her mouth salty, but not unpleasant as many informed her, hoping his trembling could be attributed to the aftereffects of orgasm and not tears. Unable to see his expression behind his huge hands, Jennifer wanted to reduce his distress either way. “It’s okay, Daniel.” He simply shook his head. Daniel wished he could disappear. Or at least clean himself up and leave quietly. “No, really. I don’t mind. That...that’s what was supposed to happen. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Uncovering glassy eyes, Daniel stared at the spot of mattress between them, plucking at the sheets. “I...I should’ve warned you, though. I’m so sorry, Jennifer. I…” Daniel cautiously took her hand. “I don’t want you to ever think I’d make you...do that. Or...or anything. I just…” Features contorting with guilt, Daniel ground his teeth and the muscle in his sturdy jaw waved regretfully. “I wasn’t...I didn’t know. I thought...I’m so sorry.”

“Daniel, it’s okay.” Jennifer petted over his dark hair, certain to let her nails drag over his scalp, picking up on how this action calmed Daniel. “I’m okay. I don’t mind. I…” Pausing, Jennifer’s worries about being labeled promiscuous crowded her mind, but she swatted them away, reminding herself of Daniel’s constant kindness. “I...if we do that again, you don’t have to stop me. I...I want to…” Voice a self conscious whisper, Jennifer eyed the drying trail on Daniel’s endearing belly. “Swallow it.”

A single eye of bewildered azure poked out between two lengthy fingers. “Really?”

Jennifer nodded quickly, crossing and uncrossing her arms, pushing the errant strands of crimson out of her face. “Yeah, I, um...yeah. I...sure. I...would. I’d like to...try at least. Sure. Yeah.”

Daniel lowered his hands, corner of his mouth lifting as he tickled at Jennifer’s hip and murmured. “Oh...Jennifer, that’s…pretty sexy…”

Finding a mischievous twinkle in the evening sky of Daniel’s eyes, a smile blossomed over Jennifer’s face as she took his fingers and squeezed. “Well, I...I just wanna make you feel good. That...it just really...turns me on, so…”

A high giggle floated out of Daniel and he clapped a palm over his mouth when he snorted. “Oh, um...thank you. Yeah, you...you made me feel really good. I...that was great. Thank you.” Daniel glanced down at the mess on his abdomen, dotting his chest hair before dropping Jennifer’s fingers. “I, um...I’m just gonna go to the restroom. I’ll be right back…”

Jennifer grinned at Daniel’s adorable little butt as he scuttled from the room, waiting until she heard the bathroom door close before smothering a yelp of glee into a pillow. 

Returning with a raw swath of pink down his middle and covering his softening cock, Daniel scurried back onto the bed before taking Jennifer’s wrist. “I, um...I wanna touch you, too. If you want me to.” Daniel looked to the blanket covered mystery between Jennifer’s legs and swallowed. “I...I wanna make you feel good, too.”

“Oh...okay. Yeah.” Jennifer nodded, shifting atop the sheets. “Yeah. I...if you want to. Sure.”

“Um…” Stopping at her thigh, Daniel studied Jennifer’s emerald eyes. “Would...would you show me how? I wanna...I wanna do it right.” Often when Daniel tried things on his own, they didn’t go well. Sometimes asking for help backfired, too. People got impatient. Even yelled. But Jennifer never raised her voice to him before, so he thought it would be safe. 

“Oh, um...yeah. Sure. Should I…” Jennifer laid her fingers over Daniel’s. “I’ll...I’ll just take your hand then, okay?”

Heart pounding, Daniel watched Jennifer rustle beneath the sheets until the scrap of purple panties flung to the floor. “Okay.”

Jennifer guided Daniel past the smooth curve of her belly and into the moist warmth below, forgetting to breathe when his fingertips breached the lips of her pussy. Daniel followed her lead, well equipped to move with a feather touch after years of lightly tapping the keys on his precious flute as Jennifer notched his middle and ring fingers below her crest. “Feel that?” She whispered, indicating her clit and passing Daniel back and forth over the tender nub’s surface. Daniel nodded in understanding and Jennifer swirled his large hand counter clockwise. “That, it...it feels best. Right there…”

Captivated by her sensitive flesh, Daniel spun and checked Jennifer’s reaction. “Like that?”

“Yeah…” Rocking into Daniel’s big hand, Jennifer removed her own to cup his face and claim his mouth. “Yeah, that’s...that’s good.” As they resumed kissing, Daniel gauged Jennifer’s responses, while absorbing all the information he could about her body. Though obviously wet, the slickness of Jennifer’s pussy was different from water. Nor was she gooey, or lotion-like, really, as Daniel might have anticipated. Were Daniel brave enough to buy the lubricant he eyed at the drugstore, he would have been accustomed to the sensation. But alas, Jennifer’s dew proved a novel experience.

Daniel rubbed faster, with a tad more pressure, and the reward of a moan buzzed against his lips. Eager, Daniel hastened his pace, and when Jennifer broke away from his mouth, her nails scraping over his scalp with a high note of rapture, his elation grew. 

“Hey Jennifer?” Her eyes squinched and her mouth gaped, but Daniel couldn’t help but pepper kisses over Jennifer’s face, her neck, her collarbone as he spoke. “Hey, um...do...can I try licking you, too? I...I wanna do that. If you want me to. Please.”

Distracted by the pulses of pleasure between her thighs, Jennifer didn’t process Daniel’s request until she successfully suppressed the noise warbling up her throat and blinked. “Oh...okay, yeah.” Jennifer nodded and looked from side to side. “Should...I’ll just lay down then…”

“Okay.” Whipping the blanket back in his exuberance left Jennifer a little alarmed before Daniel shuffled down, but once she took in the sight of his face between her legs, she didn’t care. “Are you ready?”

“Yeah.” Jennifer told her body to relax. It didn’t listen. Daniel examined her anatomy closely. Clitoris swollen and glistening, Daniel’s tongue darted out. Fast. Jennifer twitched. Daniel did it again. And again.

Years of maintaining tight lips against the embouchure of his flute while flicking his tongue to produce different pitches turned out to be incredibly useful in ways Daniel never could’ve conceived. Jennifer, however, thought of this possibility many a time before when fantasizing about Daniel’s sculpted jaw between her thighs and was deliriously happy to be proven right as she rutted into his chiseled features. “ _ Oh Daniel! Yes! Right there! Don’t stop!”  _

Jennifer thrashed and Daniel found himself constantly readjusting his neck placement to keep up with the angle of her pelvis. Part of him wanted to anchor her hips to the mattress and lap fervently, but he thought that would be rude. So Daniel simply rode the wave of her gyrating body as best he could, watching in amazement as she puffed herself up in ever-higher pitched euphoria. “ _ Daniel! Daniel! Yes! Yes! Daniel!” _

Thighs snapping shut around his joined ears, for a moment as Daniel continued to consume he worried Jennifer stopped breathing. But then she shook violently, a sound like a motor failing tumbling out of her as Jennifer’s eyes rolled and her limbs loosened to the mattress. 

Daniel kept going with the same level of intensity and Jennifer frantically shook her head, gulping air as she tapped his broad shoulder. “Stop...too much!”

Popping up, Daniel eyed her with concern. “I’m sorry, did I hurt you?”

“No, just…” Chest heaving and quivering hand to her brow, Jennifer shook her head. “It’s...it’s too sensitive right now. I...need a break.” 

“Oh.” Daniel looked down at Jennifer’s throbbing pussy and blinked. “Okay. You want me to stop, then?”

“Yeah...yeah, I'm good for now. Thank you.” 

Wiping a carved forearm over his face, Daniel joined a weary Jennifer at the top of the bed where she covered them with the blanket. Bending to kiss her cheek, Daniel scooped Jennifer into his long arms. Daniel needed to communicate the closeness, the immense amount of overjoyed glee he experienced toward Jennifer in that divine second. Coiling around perhaps a bit too tight, Jennifer didn’t mind in the slightest, limbs squid-like as she wrapped right back. 

“I like you so much, Jennifer.” Daniel whispered into her damp skin, biceps starting to quake.

“I like you so much, too.” Keenly aware of their lined up genitalia, Jennifer didn’t want to relinquish her knee looped around Daniel’s waist and hoped the position didn’t make him uncomfortable in their nudity. 

They held one another in silence. Finally, sated and tired, Jennifer kissed Daniel’s cheek. “Are you...you can stay? Tonight?”

“Yeah.” Daniel nodded, then averted his eyes. “I, um...I told my mom...I made a new friend.” Squeezing her waist, Daniel sighed heavily. “I said...I said I was staying over at Jerry’s house. I’m sorry…”

“That’s okay.” Smiling, Jennifer brushed back his brunette tendrils. “I don’t mind if she doesn’t know about me.”

“Okay.” Daniel grinned in relief. “Thank you.”

Craning her neck back, Jennifer reached for the lamp. “Are you ready to go to sleep?”

“Yeah.” Room awash in darkness, Jennifer flipped over and nestled back into the long line of Daniel’s body. “Um...you wanna sleep naked?”

“Oh...yeah. I mean, if you do.”

“I do.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

Snuggled together in the blue moonlight, Daniel kissed the nape of Jennifer’s neck and she trickled through his dark arm hair until her fingers tired and stilled, both drifting into dream worlds, though perhaps not as discontented with reality as they were the night before.


	4. 4

Neither used to sharing a bed, Daniel woke with a hand obscuring the upper half of his face, and a sharp elbow gouged Jennifer’s ribs. But both smiled when consciousness alerted them to their companion, Jennifer doubly so when she noticed Daniel’s morning erection.

A slumber-addled kiss passed between them before she peeked beneath the blanket and studied Daniel’s puffy cobalt eyes. “Okay, can I, um...can I try using my mouth again? I really want to.”

“Okay.” Resentful of his nasal voice eking out higher than usual, Daniel saw Jennifer disappear beneath the covers before a tight heat surrounded the tip of his cock and he gasped. “Oh...oh okay…” Daniel fisted his huge hands in the sheets, melting back into the mattress and nodding eagerly as Jennifer slowly worked the warm circle of her lips halfway down the thick shaft of his cock. 

Jennifer went through an internal checklist. Cover teeth. Breathe through nose. Jerk with hand. Flick tongue. Hollow cheeks. A lot to remember and coordinate all at once, but after a couple of minutes of bobbing along, Jennifer found an adequate groove.

Daniel certainly wasn’t complaining, fighting to keep his pelvis flat on the bed as a moan left his pale throat. “Jennifer... _yes! That feels so good!”_ Tipping his square chin down, Daniel massaged up Jennifer’s unmoving arm. “Can I...can i move the blanket? Is that okay?” Daniel didn’t want to make Jennifer uncomfortable, but he wanted to watch. Desperately.

A muffled, “ _Mmhmm_ ” buzzed through Daniel’s tender flesh, causing the muscles in his shapely leg to leap and he licked his lips. “Okay, okay, thank you.” 

To no one’s surprise, once Daniel caught sight of Jennifer’s mouth gobbling his massive cock with abandon, her green eyes drilling into him with lustful purpose, the act didn’t last. “ _Oh Jennifer! Jen! Yes! So good! Please! Keep going! I love it! Yes! Uh-huh! Uh-huh! Uh-huh!”_

Whining like all the tickets to comic con sold out before he could even get in line, Daniel’s limbs swam and he urgently tapped Jennifer’s shoulder. “ _Jen! I’m gonna...I’m gonna I...I...I’m gonna cum! I’m sorry!”_

But Jennifer stayed down, ensconcing as much of Daniel’s length as she could manage as pulse after pulse of salinic cum drained into her willing throat. Left eye twitching and crisp jaw hanging, Daniel’s fingers lightly grazed her scalp, hips rocking forward before he shivered to a stop. “Oh Jen...Jennifer...I...Jennifer…”

Jennifer rose, clearing the moisture from her eyes and lips and removing the intrusive strands of red from her face. Shaky and self conscious, Daniel reached out to touch her hand. “Are you okay? I’m...I’m sorry. I didn’t--”

“Don’t be sorry.” Jennifer squeezed his fingers and smiled. “You didn’t do anything wrong. I’m great. Are you okay?”

His uneven grin reappeared and Daniel nodded. “Okay. Good. Yeah, I’m great, too. Thank you. I, um…” Fingers cascading up Jennifer’s knee, Daniel’s pupils expanded until his eyes were almost black with need. “I...can I lick you again? I...liked that.”

“Okay.” Jennifer barely flattened herself on the mattress before Daniel parked between her thighs, tongue fluttering with unbelievably velocity over her clit which throbbed from hours of erotic dreaming. “Oh... _oh fuck!”_ Slapping a hand over her mouth, Jennifer didn’t swear often, but the intensity of the sensation knocked her off kilter. Jennifer wheezed through her nose, encouragingly petting Daniel’s head before clawing at the sheets. “ _Daniel! Yes! I...I love it! Keep going! Right there!”_

Daniel moaned as he devoured Jennifer, making a mental note to ask if he could do her first next time, because her sounds, her flavor, her body undulating beneath his ministrations; all hardened his cock yet again, and Daniel didn’t want to ask Jennifer to repeat her performance. 

When Jennifer devolved into a quivering puddle repeating his name, Daniel understood this time, but looked up at her curiously, pink lips brushing over hers as she recovered. “Jennifer, um...can I keep going? If...if I’m careful? You can have more than one, right?” Daniel knew women possessed this ability and he wanted to witness the phenomenon in real life.

“Yeah, um, just…” Panting, Jennifer squeezed Daniel’s forearm. “Just...go slow, okay? Kind of...work up to it.”

“Okay.” Daniel opened her with two lengthy fingers and licked tentatively alongside Jennifer’s engorged clit. “Just let me know if I need to change anything, okay?”

“Okay…” Starting adagio and whipping her to allegro, Daniel summoned a full forte shriek from Jennifer she couldn’t contain no matter how hard she tried, heels kicking in the sheets and slathering herself wantonly over his sharp jaw. 

Many in his life thought Daniel dull, simple. But, like Jennifer, he did exceedingly well in school, aside from a couple of subjects like philosophy and world religions, where the concepts were too abstract, nothing to memorize, nothing solid to grasp. 

And so, as with all other tasks, Daniel studied Jennifer quickly and efficiently. Taught himself when to recede, when to surge, what sounds meant she needed more pressure, less. Watched. Listened. Learned.

Still, waves of heat zapping over her sweaty flesh and arms leaden, after the third, or perhaps the fourth encore, Jennifer had no choice but to weakly inform Daniel to stop. Once he confirmed her well being, Daniel discreetly exited to the bathroom while Jennifer composed herself, jerking his cock hard and fast, as he didn’t want her to do any more for him that morning, especially when she seemed so tired.

Hands washed and relieved, Daniel returned to Jennifer and took her into his arms, the two enjoying a hazy peacefulness between waking and sleeping for an hour or so before Jennifer blinked and patted Daniel’s vast shoulder. “Are you hungry?”

“Yeah.”

“Come on, I’ll make us breakfast.” Daniel dressed in the clean clothes from his backpack, smiling at the oversized Harry Potter shirt Jennifer pulled on over a pair of fresh panties before following her out of the bedroom.

Offering to help, Jennifer waved Daniel away. Though she thought him kind, she liked having command of her kitchen, and another body would only interrupt her process. After they agreed on eggs, sausage and toast, Jennifer presented a plate before Daniel which he accepted with effusive thanks, looking over at her ‘Firefly’ display as he chewed. 

“So, I don’t think I ever asked you,” Jennifer sliced a sausage in half and reached for her orange juice. “I don’t know how, but… Who’s your favorite character?”

Daniel stiffened. His broad shoulders curled inward. He cast his eyes away. “Um…”

Clocking the evidence of his discomfort, Jennifer rolled her eyes. “It’s okay, Daniel. You can say it. You like Inara, right?” Inara was the gorgeous courtesan aboard the ship Serenity, effortlessly sultry and undeniably interesting, too. Jennifer couldn’t blame any fanboy for their enamoration. “I don’t mind. I mean…” Gesturing to her poster of Nathan Fillion, Jennifer shrugged. “You know how I feel about the Captain and all. I won’t be jealous or anything.”

“Oh, well, Inara...she’s...she’s great. And pretty and everything, too, but, um…” Daniel shrugged and poked at his egg. “I...I really like Kaylee, so…” Kaylee, the grease monkey mechanic with a tender heart of gold, took up residence in Daniel’s mind for more time and in more ways than he was willing to admit.

A shame, because he might have found Jennifer understood this predilection. “Oh, nice! Yeah, Kaylee is super cool. I love her.”

“Yeah.” Daniel chomped down on a piece of toast, tucking the bite into his cheek before responding. Contemplating the hours, at this point likely months or even years of his life devoted to an intensely detailed fantasy relationship with Kaylee, Daniel worried. Worried Jennifer might think him pathetic. Daniel made the mistake of telling others before. They didn’t understand. But more than anything, Daniel worried being with Jennifer meant saying goodbye to Kaylee forever. “Me too…”

Swallowing a mouthful, Daniel considered Jennifer’s ‘Firefly’ memorabilia. The Captain Mal poster. Figurine. Lunchbox. Countless other items, not to mention those adorning her bedroom. Daniel wondered, wondered…

“Hey Jennifer, um…” Prominent brows gathered and pink lips parted, Daniel tried to think of a succinct way to express himself, but came up empty. “Do...do you...think about Mal?”

Jennifer’s green eyes blinked across from him, and when neither her expression nor her tone flooded Daniel with shame, that his question was stupid, obvious, he experienced a pang in his firm chest he couldn’t quite descibe. “Yup, I do.” Nodding, Jennifer looked to the various representations of Nathan Fillion’s image. “A lot. Why do you ask?”

“Well, I mean, do you…” Staring straight up, Daniel’s large hands groped in the air at nothing as he sought an explanation. “Ever...daydream? Like…” Licking and folding his pink lips under, Daniel’s nostrils flared as he shifted uncomfortably on his chair, voice fading. “I...sometimes I just...lay down and...think. For a long time. About...what it would be like. To...to be a...to be on Serenity. Like...a crew member.” Daniel hunched, cheeks hot and fingers tapping on his lap. “I...that’s stupid. I’m sorry…”

Jennifer didn’t wish for her silence to contribute to Daniel’s mounting self loathing. But, aside from one friend online, another woman, no one ever discussed this habit with her before, and the overwhelming magnitude of not only meeting someone who might understand her dream world, but that person being Daniel, the long held object of her affection, took time to process.

Clearing her throat eventually, Jennifer nodded. “Yeah, I, um…” Fork in a ruthless grip, Jennifer examined the spotless tabletop and squirmed. “I...do that, too.”

In the interim between asking and response, Daniel became worked up, staring at the light overhead to calm himself as he rubbed the heels of his palms over his jeans. As a result, a couple of seconds passed before he heard Jennifer’s words. “R-really?”

Jennifer nodded, spearing a piece of sausage and taking a deep breath. “Yeah, I...I do that all the time. I…” Speaking quickly, Jennifer forced out everything in one breath before occupying her mouth with munching and not knowing where to look. “I like to imagine I’m part of the crew and the Captain and I are...well, my daydreams are romantic. I guess. And...sexual. Sometimes. I’m sorry. That’s weird. I’ll shut up. I’m sorry.” 

Fork clattering to the plate in her embarrassment, Jennifer told herself to inhale, to exhale. _Don’t cry. Don’t choke. Just eat. Don’t look at him. It’s fine. It’s fine. It’s fine. Please don’t laugh at me…_

Jennifer stared at her twisting hands and tensed, pressure behind her eyes building while she waited for the inevitable. But instead of the wicked cackle of countless past hurts, a soft whisper issued from the other side of the table. “Me too…”

Like a frightened gopher poking out of its hole, checking the terrain for predators, Daniel’s deep blue eyes lifted, then fell and rose again with a diminutive nod and Jennifer swallowed. “Really?”

“Yeah…” Daniel murmured, twisting a sock covered toe on the floor. “Like...like you said. All the time. With…” Blushing, Daniel hitched up an expansive shoulder. “With romance and sex and stuff…”

Food cooling and forgotten, Jennifer leaned forward. “With...with Kaylee?”

Bobbing his head, Daniel’s square chin stopped at an awkward angle in the circuit and he blinked. Daniel looked back to Jennifer’s ‘Firefly’ display, to Jennifer, splaying and fisting his hands as he swallowed. “Yeah, um...but...but, could I tell you something? Maybe?”

“Of course.” Jennifer added a dollop of honey to her tone as soon as she saw the rods of steel in Daniel’s broad brame, the nerves dancing over his pasty skin. “Anything. I promise I won’t make fun of you. And Daniel…” Scooting her hand halfway across the table, Jennifer waited until his darting blue eyes met hers, if only for a second. “I don’t think there’s anything you can say that would make me not like you.”

Daniel tried to smile. Of course Jennifer could say these things now. She didn’t know yet. But Daniel considered the evidence. Jennifer seemed to be a kind and accepting person by all accounts. And Daniel thought he remembered her expressing gladness at hearing about Sean Maher, who portrayed Dr. Simon Tam on ‘Firefly’s’ orientation…

“Well, sometimes…” Plucking at his baggy jeans, Daniel’s supple lips hardly moved as he spoke, eyes downcast. “Sometimes I...I think...about the Captain, too.”

“Oh!” Jennifer sat back, glancing back and forth from Daniel to her poster. She supposed this revelation shouldn’t be especially surprising, given Daniel’s mannerisms and all. But she simply never thought about the possibility, so focused was she on her attraction and whether or not he might reciprocate. “Oh...that’s great, Daniel!” 

Peering up, Daniel raised a dark eyebrow. “Really? You...you think it’s okay?”

“Yeah, of course!” In truth, Jennifer thought this information quite a bit more than okay. The idea, frankly, tempted her to haul Daniel back into the bedroom. But they didn’t have time. “I think that’s cool. He’s so sexy. I’m glad you like him, too.”

Crooked grin surrounded by fiercely pink cheeks, Daniel’s gaze shifted and an almost coquettish giggle escaped him as he nodded. “Yeah, yeah...he is. Thanks, Jennifer.” Daniel took her hand and squeezed, imparting his touch with gratitude for her lack of judgment. 

Returning to their meals, Daniel and Jennifer tiptoed around the topic of their daydreams until a deluge of conversation flooded their breakfast. They discovered both often spent hours a day in these created worlds, both engaged in the practice from a young age (though ‘Firefly’ didn’t start either of them off, and the focus varied over the years) and both sheepishly admitted they often masturbated when the daydreams turned sexual.

“Hey, so, um…” Speech fast and fingertips rattling in his excitement, Daniel hoped he wouldn’t offend Jennifer by asking, but so far everything they discussed made him feel so close to her, so good, and he wanted to continue the high. “So you said, you said you liked me for a long time before, right? Did you ever think about me while doing...that?”

Mouth tightening, the light faded from Jennifer’s eyes and Daniel worried. “Yeah...I’m...I’m sorry…”

“Oh don’t be sorry!” Eager to console her, Daniel left his chair and walked around the table, scooping Jennifer into his arms and kissing her forehead. “I’m sorry if I shouldn’t have asked. That’s...that’s really sexy though, Jennifer. Don’t be sorry about that.”

Hugging his plush middle, Jennifer tucked into Daniel’s firm chest and inhaled his clean scent. “Did...you ever think about me? Like that?”

Quiet for a moment, Daniel released an audible exhale. “No…” Rubbing Jennifer’s back, he shook his head. “But...I...I didn’t know you were an option, you know? It...it would have felt…” Daniel didn’t want to use the word ‘wrong’ and shame Jennifer in any way, so he let his voice fall away. “But...I...I did yesterday…”

“Yeah?” Jennifer looked up to see Daniel’s blushy, tittering grin.

Bobbing his head, Daniel hid his lips, nostrils wide. “Yeah…” When he awoke the previous morning, Daniel stayed in bed, lost in thoughts of Jennifer. Initially he simply imagined snuggling in her lap while she played with his hair and read aloud, the idea permeating every fiber of his being with a soothing warmth as he lay quietly holding his erection. Not tugging yet, no, that came later when Daniel mentally replayed their activities on the couch. But sometimes, Daniel didn’t know why, just keeping his cock in hand while he dreamt made him feel peaceful.

“Oh…” Gleefully chuckling behind her fingers, Jennifer nodded. “Good. I’m glad.” Though both tingly from their conversation and half a moment away from leaning into a kiss which only had one destination, thankfully Jennifer looked to the clock instead of Daniel’s eyes. “Oh, we need to get going or we’re gonna be late…”

Daniel insisted in helping with the clean up, and though difficult for her to relinquish control, Jennifer assented. Dressing and gathering her bag, Jennifer locked the door and they walked to the station together, beaming as their measured steps traversed the sidewalk.

***

Over the next couple weeks, Daniel and Jennifer stumbled through the realities of a courtship hand in hand. Many aspects of their union went well. Both were determined to please and impress the other. This proved effective not only in the bedroom, but in kindnesses outside.

For instance, as an avid cosplayer in her free time (though she never did attend conventions much because crowds led to panic attacks) an idea occurred to Jennifer and she began scouring the thrift stores for treasure.

“Okay...are you ready?” 

Daniel couldn’t really answer the question honestly, as all Jennifer said was she had a surprise before disappearing into her bedroom. But he figured she wouldn’t do anything scary or bad, so Daniel nodded. “Yeah, okay there. I’m ready.” 

A colorful parasol filled his field of vision before Jennifer twirled back to reveal her Kaylee costume. Scarlet hair atop her head in two tiny buns, a green jumpsuit, topped with a teal silk shirt, Jennifer shifted nervously in her sandals before Daniel’s silent, gawking form. “Is...I...I tried to get it as close as possible…” Smoothing over the patches added to the olive material, Jennifer frowned. “Is it okay?”

“Hooollly shit.” Daniel groped blindly behind him for the couch, fingers discovering nothing, and sat down anyway. “Yeah, you. Yes. Good. I. Yes. Kaylee. Jennifer.” Short circuiting, Daniel nodded altogether too quickly and didn’t blink as Jennifer approached.

Needless to say that night when Jennifer sank to her knees before him, Daniel’s big hands barely secured themselves around the buns on her head before he came, yelping and thrashing in the back of her eager throat.

Wanting to return the favor, Daniel hit the Goodwill. With a maroon shirt a size too small (Daniel didn’t realize this was a very, very good thing) and a passable pair of khaki pants, suspenders, and belt, Daniel resigned himself to buying the boots of his Captain Mal get up retail, as he thought they were integral to the character and should be properly regarded. 

Daniel knew he would never be able to fill out the backside of a pair of slacks the way Nathan Fillion could, but he determinedly wrestled with his hair for the better part of an hour. Blow drying, gel, teasing, combing. Only to realize that his chestnut tresses looked closer to the Captain’s style if he did nothing and let them dry naturally. 

Unfortunately after his second shower, Daniel’s mother already went to bed, so he couldn’t ask to go to a friend’s house for the night. But, thrilled by his accomplishment, Daniel dressed in his new found costume, sneaking into the livingroom to take a picture before the full length mirror before attaching the image with a text to Jennifer.

Daniel: _What do you think?_

Jennifer: _WHERE ARE YOU_

When Daniel opened Jennifer’s response, he started taking off the suspenders, pacing his room, upset at his foolishness.

Daniel: _I’m at home. I’m sorry. I thought you would like it. I didn’t mean to make you mad. I’m sorry._

Seeing Daniel tragically misinterpreted her tone, Jennifer decided to call, hoping to curb him before he unraveled. Breathing answered after the ringing stopped. “Daniel? Daniel, are you okay?”

“I, um…” Daniel tried to remove the second boot. Flapped his wrist when the material stuck over his heel and sat on the bed. “I’m sorry. I...I thought…”

“Daniel…” Maintaining her gentle tone, Jennifer could only pray he would keep the phone to his ear. “Daniel. I love it. It’s so good. You’re so sexy. I said that because I got excited and wanted to know where you were and if you could come over right away. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m not angry or upset. Daniel, you did a good job. I love it so much and it makes me really happy.”

Daniel looked straight up. Sometimes focusing on a light: steady, bright...helped. “Yeah?”

The scratch in his unsure tone constricted Jennifer’s chest and she nodded even though Daniel couldn’t see. “Yeah. You look amazing, Daniel. I wish you were here right now.”

A sniff. Jennifer wondered if there was a way to permanently block caps lock on her phone. “I, um...I’m sorry. I can’t come over tonight. My mom…”

“It’s okay.” Jennifer wanted to console him as quickly as possible. “Another time. Don’t worry about it. Thank you for doing this for me. It’s so sexy and I love it. I…” Hesitating, Jennifer glanced around her empty apartment as though she might get caught. “I can’t wait until you come over dressed like that so I can...do things...with you.”

Daniel fell silent again, but Jennifer suspected a different sort of tension radiated over the line this time. “What…” Voice low, Daniel managed to unzip and remove the second boot before rising to check his door was locked. “What sorta things, Jennifer?”

“Um...hang on…” Jennifer went to her room, tucking under the blankets. In the interim of her silence, Daniel disrobed and did the same, unwilling to sully his valued garments. “Well, um…” Laying on her side and half covering her grin in a pillow, Jennifer fought the urge to giggle. “Daniel, if...if you dressed like that…” Taking a breath of resolve, Jennifer let the words pour out of her as she closed her eyes. “I’ll do anything you want me to all night long.”

Cock unfurling, Daniel took himself in hand and looked to the door in dismay. “I...Jennifer, I’m sorry. I can’t really. Say things. Out loud. Right now…”

“Oh, right…” Jennifer paused with her fingers on her thigh. “Do you wanna text instead?”

“I really like listening to you.” Daniel murmured, stroking softly. “You sound so pretty…”

“Okay, I’ll just...I’ll just say stuff and...if you wanna jump in, you can, and if not, that’s...that’s okay, too, alright?”

A contented hum vibrated into Jennifer’s ear and her guilt over getting Daniel worked up started to dissipate. “Okay, Jennifer. Thank you. Sounds good.”

“Okay, um…” Petting over the lips of her pussy, Jennifer shut her eyes and opened the door of her daydreams. Within stood Captain Mal, who ushered her to the heights of ecstasy many times before. But now, she tweaked him a bit. Making him more like Daniel as she settled into the sheets. “Okay, I...I would kiss you. You’re a really good kisser, Daniel.”

“You think so?” Thumb polishing his frenulum, Daniel’s prominent brows knit together as he listened.

“Yeah. Yeah, the way you kiss me always...always turns me on. And then, um...maybe...maybe you’d get hard. And I could...I could touch you. Are...are you touching yourself, Daniel?”

A breathy, “Yeah” floated to Jennifer in response. “Are you?”

“Yeah.” Jennifer rubbed over her clit, dipping two fingers into her moist depths. “And...and I could suck you. I...I like doing that so much. I love making you feel good. And it...it’s so sexy. How you...you move and sound and everything.”

“Yes.” Voice a restricted whisper, Daniel vigorously tugged and smushed the phone to his ear. “I like that so much. So good…”

“Or, um…” Heels on the mattress and tone breaking high, Jennifer sought the spot inside of herself which throbbed for Daniel with two fingertips as her thumb continued to race over her clit, emboldened by her desire. “Maybe...maybe...would...you could go inside...if you want...I...Daniel, I wanna feel you so badly…”

The quiet made Jennifer stop. “Daniel? I’m sorry, I...I shouldn’t have said that. I know we haven’t…”

“You mean…” Speaking from a deep well of wonder, Daniel’s pink lips skipped over the phone as he squeezed over his aching cock. “Go...go all the way?”

“I’m sorry.” Jennifer buried her face in the pillow. “I shouldn’t have...just pretend I didn’t say it, okay? I don’t wanna scare you or push you or anything. Just...let’s go back. I’ll...just forget it, okay?”

Daniel cleared his throat, and faced the wall, wide back a shield from the door. “We...we can talk about that…” Voice as small as possible, he continued to thrust through the circle of his large fist. “I...I don’t mind. I…” Swallowing, Daniel nodded against the receiver. “I wanna be inside you, Jennifer…”

“You do?” Unfolding, Jennifer blinked at the ceiling in hope.

“Yeah…” Breath ragged, Daniel started to hump, imagining what Jennifer might feel like, warm, close. “So bad…”

Replacing her fingers and picking up the pace, Jennifer closed her eyes and emitted a moan. “Me too. I...I wanna feel you in me, Daniel. Please. I know you’ll feel so good. You…” Jennifer’s stammered breaths nearly pushed Daniel over the edge. “You always make me cum so hard.”

“Me too. _Jennifer! Jen! Yes!”_ Muffling his mouth, Daniel held the phone away as he drained pulsing cum onto the sheets and shuddered. 

Hurriedly bringing Jennifer back to his joined ear, hearing her pleas of, “ _Oh Daniel! Yes! Please! Daniel! Yes!_ ” caused another unexpected thread of sticky white to shoot free and Daniel clamped a hand over his mouth to keep from crying out.

Daniel waited until he heard Jennifer’s breath slow. “Thank you, Jennifer. I...that was really nice. I...I miss you.”

“I miss you, too, Daniel.” Curling up with a pillow to her chest, Jennifer smiled. “Do you think you can come over tomorrow? After the show?”

“Yeah.” Edging away from the drying stain, Daniel made a mental note to wash them as soon as his mother left for work in the morning. “I think I should be able to. I’ll see you at the studio.”

“Okay, sounds good, Daniel. I…” A pause. Jennifer’s resolve wavered and she closed her mouth. “I’ll talk to you then. Have a good night.”

“You too. Sleep well, Jennifer.”

In addition to these more demonstrative forms of caring, Daniel and Jennifer each did things for the other which were never known.

Jennifer sketched a portrait of Daniel, based on a picture of him she found online. Quite a good likeness, really. Capturing his sharp features, while also possessing the endearing softness which made him undeniably Daniel. But once completed, Jennifer despised the rendering. Thought her skills wanting and even the idea of the creation foolish, pathetic, trite. Tearing the image into hundreds of itty bitty pieces, she scattered them between three garbage cans on her way to work, so they could never be reassembled to show her failure.

Daniel wrote a song for Jennifer on his flute. Once the house was empty each morning, he puckered, tinkered, scribbled on his sheet music. Until a tune worthy of calling sailors from their decks, surrendering their lives as they lept, issued from his silver woodwind.

But Daniel never told. Never played. When he finished and attempted to go through the first time, Daniel cried. He tried again, cried again. Daniel decided, what good was the song if he couldn’t stop weeping long enough to perform? Tossing the notes in the fire pit, Daniel tried to erase the tune from his mind.

As Daniel and Jennifer prepared for the show...well, they were meant to be preparing for the show. In actuality, they were kissing on the couch in the back room. A regular occurrence these days, but Jennifer didn’t think the activity infringed upon her producer’s duties, and aside from being flustered that first day, Daniel didn’t make any additional mistakes as a result of their relationship, either.

“Hi...there.” Jennifer and Daniel separated with a comical puckering sound to see Lyle, agog as he tilted his head in confusion. Daniel ripped his hand away from Jennifer’s thigh as though burned and she hastily lowered her skirt.

“Hi there, Lyle.” They both responded in tittering unison, unconsciously shifting as far apart as the ratty couch would allow, cheeks pinking under Lyle’s disbelieving gaze.

“So…” Lyle stared at a spot about two feet in front of himself, frozen. “You two are...boyfriend/girlfriend?”

Both nodded and Lyle clenched his fists, turning from the room without a word. “I’ll...I’ll go talk to him.” Daniel pushed his palms into the couch and stood to follow. 

Friends since childhood, as Daniel approached Lyle where he paced in the hallway, lips pursed and eyes downcast, he worried perhaps Lyle’s distress might be due to jealousy. Daniel knew Lyle was gay. Though he didn’t intend to, Lyle let a few details of his personal experiences with men slip from time to time. But Daniel didn’t imagine Lyle would be attracted to him. Though Daniel, too, considered men sometimes, Lyle simply didn’t cross his mind in that way. They were almost like brothers in their closeness. And Daniel hoped more than anything their bond wouldn’t be broken now.

“Hey there, Lyle.”

Oscillations ceasing, Lyle offered a curt nod. “Hey there, Daniel.”

“Are you okay, Lyle?” Daniel tried to gauge how close to stand without making Lyle more uncomfortable. 

“Why didn’t you tell me, Daniel?” Lyle looked back to where Jennifer resided. “I...I thought we were best friends.”

“Oh, I…” The hurt in Lyle’s eyes at being left out, when Daniel knew he, they, were left out countless times before, made Daniel nauseous. “I’m sorry. I thought...I thought you might get mad…”

To be fair, Lyle was angry. But perhaps he may not have been were he informed earlier. “Is that why you didn’t want to play Catan on Saturday? Your cousins didn’t really come to visit, did they?”

Hanging his head in shame, Daniel twisted a toe on the floor. “No… I’m sorry.”

Lyle and Daniel stood silently in the hall together, neither looking at the other. “Do you not wanna be friends anymore?” Studying Daniel’s face with aggrieved eyes, Lyle swallowed hard. “Are...are you only gonna hang out with Jennifer now?”

“No, no.” Daniel held up his palms placatingly and shook his head. “You’re still my best friend, Lyle. Jennifer’s my girlfriend, but...I’m still your friend. I want us all to be friends.”

Blinking, Lyle’s shoulders relaxed. “Does...does Jennifer wanna be my friend still?”

Daniel bobbed his head, glancing from Lyle to the open door. “Yeah. I don’t see why she wouldn’t. We all get along. The only thing that’s different is sometimes Jennifer and I will hang out on our own. But you and I do that, too. So it’ll be okay.”

“Okay…” Lyle nodded slowly before smoothing over his hair in a calming gesture. Locking into Daniel’s eyes for half a second, Lyle tilted his head. “What’s it like? With a girl?”

“Oh...well…” Fidgeting, Daniel shrugged his broad shoulders. “It’s...probably the same. With...boys or girls. Jennifer’s nice. We have fun.”

With a soft noise of assent, Lyle turned and started back down the hall before halting abruptly halfway. “How long ago did you start being boyfriend/girlfriend?”

“Just a couple of weeks…” Daniel replied sheepishly, rubbing an elbow with the opposite arm and hoping Lyle wouldn’t flare up again at his deception.

“Oh, good.” Lyle continued his trajectory. “Then it hasn’t affected the show. Real good, there.”

Aside from a dose of additional awkwardness, the three completed taping without issue, and afterward Daniel motioned for Jennifer to join him while Lyle undid his microphone. “Hey, um…” Lips folded under as he clutched his flute case, Daniel glanced at Lyle and inhaled sharply. “I...I think Lyle is sad. That I haven’t been spending time with him. Would...would it be okay if I went over to his place to play games for a little bit? And then...then maybe, if...if you still wanna, I...I can come over after...Or another time...Or...I’m sorry, just…” Stormy sea of his eyes flowing between Jennifer and Lyle, Daniel tapped his thick thighs in his uncertainty. “I...maybe just an hour...or--”

“Daniel, it’s okay.” Jennifer fingers graced Daniel’s hand, his shoulder, his hair, grounding him with her touch, her smile. “You should go play with Lyle. He needs a friend right now. And if you wanna stay over at his place tonight, you should do that, too. Just text me and let me know. We can always get together tomorrow or another time.”

An alleviated sigh burst from Daniel and he bobbed his head. “Thanks there, Jennifer. You’re so nice.” Kissing her cheek, Daniel gave her hand a squeeze. “Okay. I’ll text you later then?”

“Sounds good. Have fun.”

Three quarters of the way through her book and absorbed in the tale, Jennifer jumped when her phone beeped on the bedside stand, almost forgetting why she left the volume on before she looked at the screen.

Daniel: _Do you still want to get together? If it’s too late that’s okay. But Lyle said he would cover for me and say I’m staying at his house tonight._

Jennifer grinned, touched at the thought of Lyle willing to protect their relationship despite his earlier qualms.

Jennifer: _Yeah, I’d like to if you want to come over. I’m ready anytime._

Daniel: _Great, I’ll start walking now. Be there in an hour or so._

Jennifer: _Okay. Be safe. Call if you need anything._

Daniel knocked on Jennifer’s door, and when she opened, he nearly dropped the box in his hand. “Oh...wow.” Standing before him in a low cut eggplant dress, although the garment could use some alterations to be truly flattering around the waist and bust, Jennifer stunned Daniel as she ran her fingers through her brushed out auburn hair. “Jennifer...you look...you’re so beautiful.”

Jennifer wondered if those words issuing from Daniel’s pink lips would ever fail to make her blush. “Thank you.” 

Stepping aside to grant him entry, Daniel held out the small black box of cardboard. “I, um...I got you something.” Daniel passed the item to Jennifer with a raised shoulder and a twitch of his mouth. “It’s...it’s just from the drugstore…”

Lifting the lid, Jennifer revealed a heart shaped necklace. And though the gold and the sparkle in the center were fake, Daniel’s intentions were not. Jennifer touched the cheap metal, eyes stinging as she swallowed and softly replied. “Thank you. I love it.”

“Really?” Daniel scanned her face as he untied his shoes and Jennifer nodded, releasing the trinket from the case.

Attempting to secure the jewelry about her neck, the clasp slipped between Jennifer’s grasp and she rooted around in her bra to retrieve the necklace. “Could you help me?”

“Sure.” Daniel stood behind her to attach the chain and Jennifer turned around, beaming as she twisted the pendant proudly. “Pretty.”

“Thank you, Daniel.” Getting on her toes, Jennifer kissed his cheek. “That was really sweet of you to get this for me.” 

Hands encircling her waist, Daniel’s nose nudged Jennifer’s temple. “You’re welcome…”

“You’re…” Jennifer’s lips grazed his sculpted jaw as she flowed up his chest and into Daniel’s chestnut tresses, molding her body to his with a sigh. “You’re so good to me.”

“I…” Arms scooping her close, Daniel sought the solace of Jennifer’s mouth. “I just wanna be good to you, Jennifer.”

Kiss stumbling them into the counter, Jennifer pawed at the high collar of Daniel’s shirt in her effort to bring his face closer as he purred and kneaded her hips. Jennifer broke away, breath held as she took in Daniel’s beauty with wide eyes. “Do you wanna go to my room?”

“Yeah.” With a nod, he followed Jennifer, fingertips remaining on the back of her arm, Daniel’s need to attach, to combine unspoken but powerful.

Sitting on the side of the bed, Jennifer turned to Daniel, hands wringing in her lap. “I, um...I went to the drug store today, too.”

“Oh yeah?” Arching a dark brow inquisitively, Daniel tilted his head. He thought perhaps Jennifer acquired a gift for him as well, and hoped this time she didn’t go overboard, as he would feel bad for not getting her something more extravagant. Though he couldn’t think of anything their corner store carried which would cost her much more than the necklace. “What did you get?”

Holding air in her lungs, Jennifer glanced from Daniel to the bedside stand and back again. “Well, I...we...we don’t have to, of course. Just...after...well, I thought...since we talked about…I bought...” Daniel blinked at her in confusion and Jennifer let out an audible exhale. “Condoms.”

“Oh!” Straightening up, Daniel’s surprise bounced the mattress a little. “Oh…”

Jennifer held up her hands in exasperation. “We don’t have to do that. I just...thought I should be prepared. Just in case...you wanted to.”

Daniel gripped the edge of the bed, peeking at Jennifer from the corner of his dark blue eyes. “Do you want to?”

Lip bitten, Jennifer shrugged. “Do you?”

A timid nod. Another. Two shy smiles.

Daniel’s fingers tiptoed across the blanket to envelop Jennifer’s hand with his own.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, are you?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

No wrenching of fabrics. No heated words and scraped skin. No. Instead Jennifer and Daniel quietly undressed, heartbeats skyrocketing as they slipped into opposite sides of the bed, sharing a look filled with resolve and apprehension.

Daniel touched Jennifer’s arm. “Can I kiss you?” 

In answer, Jennifer cupped his sharp jaw, her lips swimming near as Daniel took her by the waist. Gradually they slunk down to the mattress, and when Daniel shifted atop her, Jennifer moaned with relief, as though her joints required the weight of his broad body since their creation.

Jennifer opened her legs and a lilting whimper escaped Daniel as his burgeoning erection glided between the dewy lips of her pussy. Palming her breast as their tongues intertwined. Daniel’s narrow hips ground down, albeit jerkily, and Jennifer slickened, rolling her pelvis skyward as she petted through his brunette tendrils.

“Should, um…” Jennifer parted from Daniel’s mouth, the tide of their bodies continuing to wave as she looked to her bedside stand. “Should I….grab one?”

Swallowing hard, Daniel bobbed his head and brushed an errant strand of scarlet from Jennifer’s face. “Yeah, if...if you’re ready.”

Jennifer caressed Daniel’s prominent cheekbone before reaching over to retrieve a condom from her drawer. “Should...do you want me to put it on?”

“Oh, I can.” Blinking, Daniel tried to recall his instruction from health class, but so many years passed since then. “Can I see the box first?”

“I already read it if you...I don’t mind doing it.”

“Okay.” Daniel nodded, leaning back on one side while Jennifer pinched the tip of the condom and carefully rolled the latex over his thick cock. 

“Okay.” Breath bated and eyes locked, Jennifer laid down. 

Taking himself in hand, Daniel aligned with Jennifer’s entrance and balanced above. “Are you ready?”

“Yeah. Are you?” 

“Yeah.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

Daniel stopped before he tilted his pelvis forward, muscle in his sharp jaw popping thoughtfully as he stared down at Jennifer. “Jennifer?” Folding his lower lip under, the flint of Daniel’s voice caught and Jennifer sensed his nervous exhalations against her face. “Are...are you scared?”

“Yeah.” Jennifer admitted. Slowly slithering her arm up, she interlaced her fingers with Daniel’s. “Are you?”

“Yeah…” Nodding, Daniel squeezed Jennifer’s hand, smile crooked and quivering as his eyes glazed. “Do...do you still wanna? We don’t have to. I like all the other stuff we do. I’m…” Raising a broad shoulder, Daniel touched down with a soft kiss. “I’m in no rush. We waited this long, right?”

Jennifer cleared away Daniel’s bangs, desiring to see the entirety of his handsome, earnest face above before she traced his lower lip in silent appreciation. “I want to.” Raising her head to join their mouths, Jennifer imparted a year’s worth of emotion into a single kiss before she laid back down to float upon the adoring current of Daniel’s gaze. “If you’re ready, so am I.”

“Okay.” Daniel whispered, and with a nudge he breached the restrictive walls of Jennifer’s pussy with the wide head of his cock. A high note of affliction left Jennifer and she dropped Daniel’s hand to cover her mouth, spine arching and eyes clenching.

Stopping immediately, Daniel cupped her cheek, scanning her face in concern. “Jennifer? Are you okay?” Daniel retracted despite her hasty nod.

“Yeah, I, um…” Voice irregular and wavering, Jennifer took a breath and commanded her muscles to relax. “It’s fine, I...people say it hurts the first time, so...it’s...just keep going. I’ll be alright.”

Daniel tucked his square chin down, frowning at their almost joined bodies. “I...I don’t wanna hurt you, Jennifer…”

Jennifer didn’t know how better to explain to him the inevitability of the process as she understood things. “Daniel, it’s--” 

“How about I lick you first?” Scooting down, Daniel massaged Jennifer’s hip. “That might make things better, right?”

“Oh...okay.” Sighing in relief, Daniel looped a big hand around the back of her neck and captured Jennifer’s mouth, winding her into a comforting kiss until she melted against the mattress.

“You’re so beautiful…” Daniel seemed to be burnishing every surface he could with his cheek, his chin, his hands, worshipping at the altar of Jennifer as his lips moved down her goosebump covered flesh. 

Unsure where the impulse came from, Daniel sucked Jennifer’s pink nipple into his mouth, flicking the pearl with his tongue. A gasp escaped Jennifer as her clit throbbed with need, fingers alighting on Daniel’s scalp before his lips skidded down her abdomen.

Daniel hunkered between Jennifer’s legs and began his usual staccato tongue movements over her clit, which felt amazing, but Jennifer found herself curious. “Hey Daniel, um…” Trickling through his dark hair, Daniel popped up to look at her questioningly. “Would...would you try…” Jennifer gnawed on her lip and squirmed. “Sucking? A little? Maybe? Not...not too hard. But...I think...I think that might feel good.”

Examining the bounty of Jennifer’s shimmering sex, Daniel blinked. “Oh, sure. In the same spot?”

“Yeah.” Nodding, Jennifer smiled sheepishly. “Yeah, if...if you don’t mind trying…”

“Oh I don’t mind.” Without hesitation, Daniel’s pink lips latched onto her as though trying to inhale an essence of Jennifer directly from the source.

“Oh... _oh Daniel!_ ” Limbs striking out at odd angles, Jennifer wriggled from him much faster than before and an idea occurred to Daniel. Combining his previous lapping technique with the new found suction, Daniel hollowed his cheeks as his tongue fluttered, and the results were spectacular.

“ _Daniel!”_ He never heard Jennifer screech like that and the sound zapped straight to his imploring cock, Daniel moaning into her sensitive flesh as he rubbed himself over the sheets with urgency. Jennifer curled forward and ripped at Daniel’s chestnut locks, all thoughts of propriety forgotten as her face scrunched and she humped his sturdy jaw. “ _Daniel, yes! Yes! YES!”_

Springing apart, Daniel’s big hands flowed luxuriously over her quaking body as she descended into aftershocks, the tip of his patrician nose tickling the stem of Jennifer’s clit as he closed his eyes and lost himself in his appetites.

“Daniel, I…” Jennifer tapped his vast shoulder twice before his languorous licking stopped and Daniel blinked up at her with a raised brow. “I think...I think we can try again now.”

“Oh.” Looking at Jennifer’s sopping pussy as though sent to bed without being allowed to finish his favorite dessert, Daniel nodded and rose. “Okay. Are you sure?”

“Yeah.” With a satisfied grin, Jennifer positioned herself beneath Daniel once again. “I feel better now. Thank you.”

Wiping his face, Daniel captured Jennifer for a kiss. “Me too. Thank you.” Daniel checked the condom, rolling the edges down a little before he touched the tip of his cock to Jennifer and took her hand. “Okay. Are you ready?”

“Yes.” 

“Okay.” Though her spine still twisted at the penetration and Jennifer’s eyelids fluttered, the sensation wasn’t painful, per se. More a pleasant sting, like when one stretches an aching muscle which required attention for far longer than perhaps you were willing to admit. 

A close-mouthed groan rumbled within Daniel as he sheathed himself in the tight heat, tall body curling and forehead to Jennifer’s with eyes closed. “Jennifer…” Arm snaking beneath her, Daniel cradled her face to her own, still as he acclimated to the clutch of her pussy, listening to her breathing, silent. Soft.

“Are you okay?” A trembling voice. Daniel feared if he looked at her, his tears would decorate Jennifer’s cheeks.

Jennifer nodded. She didn’t trust herself to speak quite yet.

Tone broken, Daniel blindly kissed the corner of her mouth. “Should I move now?”

“Mmhmm…” The exquisite tug around his massive cock as Daniel retracted caused his mouth to drop as he dug his toes into the sheets, pushing an effervescent sigh from Jennifer as he thrust.

Daniel laced their lips, and though clunky and uncoordinated at first, eventually the two discovered a joyous rhythm, patient and sure in their union. Discomfort receding, Jennifer snuck a hand between their kissing bellies to twiddle her imploring clit. Daniel looked down and slowed. “Oh, do you want me to do that?”

“Oh...only if you want to.” Jennifer shrugged. “It’s...I don’t mind. I just...it feels good.”

Replacing her fingers with his own, Daniel nodded. “I want to.” Jennifer purred in contentment, her addiction to Daniel’s sizable hands ceaseless as he spun over her clit and rotated within. 

Breath stilted above her, Daniel stopped, shaking his head and blinking. “I’m...Jennifer, I’m sorry…”

Jennifer cupped his cheek, confused. Daniel neither made the noises nor the faces, so she didn’t think he finished, so nothing to apologize for on that front. Not that it would’ve been a big deal if he did. And things were just starting to feel good. “What are you sorry for, Daniel?”

“I...I just…” Brows knit in agony and nostrils wide, Daniel bunched a fist in the sheets and kicked a foot before dipping into the crook of Jennifer’s neck. Voice low, almost unheard, as if he could hide the words from himself, Daniel whispered. “I’m in love with you, Jennifer.”

Squeezing her, Daniel’s breath hitched as the shores of his sea blue eyes overflowed onto Jennifer’s collarbone. “I’m sorry…” He murmured into Jennifer’s skin. “I...I know I shouldn’t have said it right now. I just...I couldn’t help it…”

“Daniel, I…” Jennifer rubbed over his wide, shaking back, at a loss. “You...you know I’m in love with you, too, right? It’s okay. Don’t be sorry.”

Daniel froze, head lifting to look at her with red-rimmed eyes as he sniffed. “You are?”

“Yeah.” Throat tight, Jennifer brushed the moisture from his sharp cheekbone with a smile. “Daniel...I’ve been in love with you for so long. I...I just didn’t want to say anything and scare you or...or make you uncomfortable.”

Crooked goofy grin boundless, a giggle squeaked out of Daniel and he beamed down at Jennifer through his uneven glittering sapphires gaze. “Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Are you sure?”

“I am.”

“Me too.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

Smiles intruding upon their kissing lips, Daniel and Jennifer ramped up to their previous pace as she draped her arms over his mountainous shoulders and his fingers inched between her thighs. 

Daniel drove into Jennifer’s accepting depths with vigor as they moaned into each other’s mouths and she started to constrict around his barreling cock. “ _Oh Jennifer!! Yes! I love you so much! You feel so good!”_

“ _Daniel! Daniel, yes! Keep going! I love you! Don’t stop! Please!”_ Thighs compressing around his propelling hips, Jennifer clung to Daniel as she tensed, hopelessly trying to kiss his panting pink lips.

“ _Jennifer! Yes! I wanna feel you! Please! Yes! Together! Now! Jen! I love you! Jen! Yes!”_ Frantically nailing her into the squeaking mattress with head down and eyes squinched, Daniel gripped Jennifer’s hand and whimpered.

Pulses of pleasure threatening to overwhelm, Daniel’s fiddling fingers ripped a tumultuous shriek of euphoria from Jennifer as her pussy cinched around his thick cock. “ _Daniel, yes! Yes! I love you! Daniel!”_

“ _Jennifer!”_ A half second of still silence preceded the uncontrollable leaping of Daniel’s tall body as a vulnerable whine dribbled from his supple lips. Left eye twitching, Daniel deflated atop of Jennifer, breathing hard and peppering kisses wherever his fatigued face could reach. 

“Oh...oh Jennifer…” Squeezing up and down her arm, Daniel swallowed. “So good. Are...are you okay?”

“Yeah.” Jennifer gasped, blinking and threading her fingers through Daniel’s sweat-blackened hair. “Are you okay?”

Daniel smiled, lips meeting hers before he tucked a lock of crimson behind Jennifer’s ear. “Yeah. I think this is the best I’ve ever been.”

Basking for a few minutes in the heady afterglow, eventually Daniel departed to throw away the condom before returning to Jennifer in bed. Flipping off the light, Jennifer snuggled into Daniel’s warmth for a satisfied, exhausted sleep.

As their eyes closed, in the halls of their minds, a door opened. And though neither could see beyond the blackness, they extended an arm in trust. Fingers searching, seeking, until Daniel and Jennifer linked hand to hand within the either, strolling together amidst a perpetual, beautiful daydream.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for taking the time to read! If you enjoyed this story, please leave a comment or come say hi on tumblr at fandomtransmandom. I also accept requests!


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